World champion swimmer Nic Fink chatted with Markos Papadatos about his Short Course World Championship wins, the past Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, and being a part of the third season of the International Swimming League (ISL).
A native of Morristown, New Jersey, Fink holds the American records in the short course setting in such races as the men’s 50 meter breaststroke, the 100 meter breaststroke, and the 200 meter breaststroke. “The American records are always fun to get,” he said.
Tokyo Summer Olympic Games
Fink finished in fifth place in the men’s 200 meter breaststroke race final at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games with a time of 2:07.93. “That felt good. It was a really fun experience. For the most part, I was really happy that we got the chance to go and that we had an Olympic meet. Being a part of that Olympic community was a lot of fun,” he said.
ISL Season 3
In the third season of the International Swimming League (ISL), Fink competed once again for the Cali Condors with veteran Olympian Jason Lezak as his team’s General Manager. “Jason Lezak put together a really good team,” he admitted. “I was happy to be there and to do what I could throughout the season to help the team. We were also able to have fun outside of the pool too.”
On his experience with the Cali Condors, Fink remarked, “It was pretty familiar, which was nice. This was my third season with them, and we had a bunch of fresh faces, which is always nice to meet new people. We had a lot more international athletes on the team this year so that was really cool.”
2021 Short Course World Championships
At the 2021 Short Course World Championships, which were held in Abu Dhabi, Fink won a total of six medals for Team USA, which included the gold medals in the 200 meter breaststroke (with a time of 2:02.28), the 4 x 50 meter medley relay (where Team USA set a new Championship record and American record with a time of 1:30.51) and the 50 meter breaststroke, where he clocked 25.53 seconds, thus setting an American record. “It was cool to set those records with a bunch of teammates,” he said.
“The Short Couse World Championships were a really good meet, for sure,” Fink recalled. “I was happy to be able to go and it turned out a lot better than I was anticipating, so I was very happy with the results for sure.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Fink responded, “Being a Student-Athlete Again.” “That’s what I have been balancing after the Olympic Games,” he said. “I was balancing so much schoolwork and so much racing with ISL. I ended up earning really good grades and swimming really fast. It was a day-by-day process trying to do the best I can.”
Success
On his definition of the word success, Fink said, “Success is doing the best I can. Oddly enough, that led to success in the pool this past fall and winter. It has been a fun journey.”
To learn more about American Olympian and world champion swimmer Nic Fink, follow him on Instagram.
