For all his success on the international stage, former Georgia swimmer Nic Fink had never medaled on the largest stage the sports world can provide as he headed into the 2024 Paris Olympics.
That changed on Sunday.
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Three years after making his Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — where he finished fifth in the 200-meter breaststroke — Fink claimed his first Olympic medal with a silver finish in the 100-meter breastroke finals in Paris. He finished tied with England’s Adam Peaty, finishing the race with a time of 59.05 seconds. Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi won the event, narrowly edging Fink and Peaty with a gold medal-earning time of 59.03 seconds.
Here’s a look at Fink’s finish in the 100-meter breaststroke:
Nic Fink wins silver in 100-meter breastroke at 2024 Paris Olympics
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Nic Fink Georgia career
Fink, 31, attended Georgia from 2011-15, turning in an impressive career with the Bulldogs’ swimming and diving team. He finished as a 19-time All-America selection, the second-most of any member of the Georgia swimming and diving team. He also won the SEC 100- and 200-meter breastroke titles in all four seasons with the Bulldogs, making him the first male swimmer in Georgia history to accomplish the feat (and only the second in SEC history).
Fink later enrolled at Georgia Tech as an electrical and computer engineering master’s student. As noted by Georgia Tech, Fink submitted his final assignment to earn his master’s degree between the preliminary round and the final round of his gold medal-winning race in the 100-meter breaststroke in the 2022 World Championships.
His wife, Melanie Margalis Fink, is in Paris to watch him compete while she is pregnant with their first child.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia’s Nic Fink wins silver in 100m breaststroke at 2024 Paris Olympics