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PARIS — The streak, which dates back a century, began in an artificial lake in St. Louis and then spanned eras and the globe. From 1904 to the present, at every Olympics the United States entered, American male swimmers won individual gold. The streak peaked in the 1920s and 1970s, and included a landslide triumph in 1948. It survived the downturns of the 1980s and 1990s. It roared back into the 21st century — until, here at the 2024 Games, it teetered on the brink of collapse.
But in the last of 14 men’s singles events at Paris La Défense Arena, Bobby Finke stepped up to save the day with a world record.
Finke won the 1,500 freestyle on Sunday, avenging a loss in the 800 earlier in the week. He pulled ahead in speed in the first 300 meters, then held off a chasing pack midway through the race. He pulled well ahead of Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri in the final 500 meters and reached the wall in 14:30.67, just under the previous record of 14:31.02, which was set 12 years ago.
And he assured that the streak will continue for at least another four years.
For most of the disappointing nine days of the 2024 Olympics, U.S. swimming sent 26 male athletes to this temporary pool west of Paris. And before Sunday, none of them had claimed gold. Eight of the 13 individual events had ended without an American in the top three. Two ended without any Americans in the final. In others, athletes finished in eighth place.
There had been failures in the heats and semifinals, high-profile failures, but mostly a steady stream of mediocre performances. The decline of American men’s swimming — or, perhaps, the stagnation of the American program and the progress of others around the world — was going to become an increasingly intense topic of conversation for weeks, months, and perhaps years to come.
But Finke silenced those talks, leading Team USA to the top of the swimming medal table and sparing the American men some embarrassment.
Beyond the streak, there was still plenty of quality American swimming at these Olympics. American stars produced dozens of medals for Team USA overall. The American women won four individual golds in the pool. The relays also triumphed. As a team, they proved that the U.S. remains the deepest swimming nation in the world.
However, they had struggled to reach the top of the podium. Nic Fink’s impressive swim in the 100m breaststroke final had given them silver. Carson Foster, Ryan Murphy and Luke Hobson settled for bronze.
In the women’s category, the Americans had been frustrated by a number of megastars. Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Torri Huske, Gretchen Walsh and Katie Grimes had all had strong competitions, but in six different finals they had been defeated, often narrowly, by Canada’s Summer McIntosh, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown or Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström. They left with their heads held high.
The men, on the other hand, had struggled. Caeleb Dressel, after a tough few years, failed to defend any of his three individual golds. Ryan Murphy failed to live up to expectations. The first-time Olympians failed to impress. Chase Kalisz, the defending Olympic champion in the 400m individual medley, didn’t even make the final (though he had little hope of overtaking Léon Marchand anyway).
Before Sunday, Finke was part of that long list. He had been dethroned by Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen in the 800 meters. He was living proof of how difficult it is to defend an Olympic title and how deep the field of international competitors is today.
However, on the final night of competition, she wrote a very different story and crowned the match with a world record.