Full-time engineer Nic Fink relishes the first Olympic medal of his late-blooming career

NANTERRE, France (AP) — For Nic Fink, this was a very long time coming.

Which solely made it sweeter.

The 31-year-old swimmer, who splits time on the pool with a full-time engineering job, claimed the primary Olympic medal of his late-blooming profession Sunday night time.

Fink tied for the silver medal within the 100-meter breaststroke with British nice Adam Peaty, simply two-hundredths of a second behind winner Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy.

For some, coming that near the highest step on the rostrum can be gut-wrenching. Not so for Fink. Not in spite of everything he’s been by.

In his first two journeys to the U.S. trials, he did not make the Olympic crew. In 2021, he lastly broke by solely to complete fifth within the 200 breaststroke on the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Video games.

Now, lastly, he has a long-sought piece of {hardware}.

“Yeah, age is only a quantity in some sense,” Fink mentioned. “However in one other sense, it means extra at the moment, particularly as a result of there have been positively home windows to shut my profession earlier and I form of saved going for the love of the game. To have this a lot success this late has been icing on the cake and plenty of enjoyable.”

Fink has already gotten began on the subsequent section of his life.

He works for Quanta Utility Engineering Providers, clocking in remotely from his dwelling in Dallas. Some main multitasking expertise are required, however Fink and people round him — from his coaches the place he trains at SMU to his engineering colleagues — make it work.

If that’s not sufficient, Fink and his spouse, former Olympic swimmer Melanie Margalis Fink, expect the couple’s first baby in September.

When Fink earned a spot on the U.S. crew on the trials within the Indianapolis final month, he memorably made a rocking movement to his spouse cheering within the stands. However, with the due date lower than two months away, she wasn’t capable of journey to Paris.

“The physician was like, ‘Yeah, we’re truly actually form of shut for any journey, not to mention worldwide journey,’” Fink mentioned. “I do know she’s right here with me in spirit. Yeah, I’m bummed she will’t be right here, however it’s for the very best of causes.”

He seemed like a nervous father-to-be as he talked about his spouse watching his thriller of a race again dwelling.

“I feel she in all probability acquired her coronary heart fee up as a lot as I did,” Fink mentioned. “I’m hoping she’s capable of chill out just a little bit and keep hydrated and lay down as a result of she was in all probability leaping up and down.”

Peaty was the two-time reigning gold medalist on this occasion. Fink was thrilled to share a spot on the rostrum with one of many best breaststrokers in historical past.

“He’s a legend within the sport,” he mentioned. “And to see Nicolo there as nicely, it’s actually enjoyable. We’ve been racing collectively for fairly some time, it looks as if. So it’s actually cool to share the rostrum with all these guys.”

With all that’s happening his life, it will absolutely be the ultimate Olympics for Fink.

But when it appears a bit overwhelming, suppose once more. This can be a man who is aware of about balancing acts.

And persistence.

“It’s simply getting higher and higher,” Fink mentioned. “To have this sort of success at this meet, swimming for one thing that I’ve devoted so lengthy of my profession to, it’s actually cool. And for that to form of lead into one thing else, that’s additionally actually cool.”

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AP Summer season Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games