Olympic gold medalist Bobby Finke back home from Paris

Olympian returns to St. Petersburg

Jordan Bowen reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A Tampa Bay Olympian is back home from Paris.

Swimmer Bobby Finke took home gold and silver. On Saturday, he showed off his hardware to hundreds of fans in St. Petersburg.

A roar of cheers could be heard for Finke throughout the stands at the North Shore pool on Saturday.

"I always love coming back home to North Shore Pool and seeing my coaches, seeing the support. This is one of my favorite places in the world, so I'm just really happy to be here," Finke said.

In Paris, Finke took home gold in the 1500-meter freestyle, successfully defending his title after getting gold in the 1500-meter freestyle in Tokyo in 2021. His new time of 14 minutes and 30 seconds set the world record, beating out a Chinese swimmer who previously set the record at the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

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"It was just another dream come true. I was really stressed going into these Olympics, so to be able to get the job done it's always a nice blessing to have. I started swimming competitively when I was five, and I have older sisters and everyone around me swims. It's years on years on years," Finke said.

On Saturday, fans filled the stands at the North Shore Aquatic Complex in St. Pete with signs to welcome home their hometown hero.

"It's one of my favorite things. I love coming back here and seeing everybody and seeing all the support. They pushed me throughout the years growing up. I love this place. I love the pool. I love the people, and it's amazing to see everybody again," Finke said.

Finke spent the day signing autographs, taking pictures with fans and showing off his new hardware. For him, it's the result of years of hard work and training in the pool and the weight room to become an Olympic gold medalist, which is a dream he's had since he was a kid.

"Lap after lap I was in a lot of pain, but I could see my other competitors kind of catching me a bit, so they were really motivating me to stay ahead of them and try and keep on pace for the world record and luckily enough I was able to hold it. It was fun," Finke said.

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