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

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

Which only made it sweeter.

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

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

For some, coming that close to the top step on the podium would be gut-wrenching. Not so for Fink. Not after all he's been through.

In his first two trips to the U.S. trials, he failed to make the Olympic team. In 2021, he finally broke through only to finish fifth in the 200 breaststroke at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.

Now, finally, he has a long-sought piece of hardware.

“Yeah, age is just a number in some sense,” Fink said. “But in another sense, it means more at this time, especially because there were definitely windows to close my career earlier and I kind of kept going for the love of the sport. To have this much success this late has been icing on the cake and a lot of fun.”

Fink has already gotten started on the next phase of his life.

He works for Quanta Utility Engineering Services, clocking in remotely from his home in Dallas. Some major multitasking skills are required, but Fink and those around him — from his coaches where he trains at SMU to his engineering colleagues — make it work.

If that's not enough, Fink and his wife, former Olympic swimmer Melanie Margalis Fink, are expecting the couple’s first child in September.

When Fink earned a spot on the U.S. team at the trials in the Indianapolis last month, he memorably made a rocking motion to his wife cheering in the stands. But, with the due date less than two months away, she wasn't able to travel to Paris.

“The doctor was like, ‘Yeah, we’re actually really kind of close for any travel, let alone international travel,’” Fink said. “I know she’s here with me in spirit. Yeah, I'm bummed she can't be here, but it’s for the best of reasons.”

He sounded like a nervous father-to-be as he talked about his wife watching his thriller of a race back home.

“I think she probably got her heart rate up as much as I did,” Fink said. “I'm hoping she’s able to relax a little bit and stay hydrated and lay down because she was probably jumping up and down.”

Peaty was the two-time reigning gold medalist in this event. Fink was thrilled to share a spot on the podium with one of the greatest breaststrokers in history.

“He’s a legend in the sport,” he said. “And to see Nicolo there as well, it’s really fun. We’ve been racing together for quite a while, it seems like. So it’s really cool to share the podium with all those guys.”

With all that's going on his life, this will surely be the final Olympics for Fink.

But if it seems a bit overwhelming, think again. This is a guy who knows about balancing acts.

And patience.

“It’s just getting better and better,” Fink said. “To have this kind of success at this meet, swimming for something that I’ve dedicated so long of my career to, it’s really cool. And for that to kind of lead into something else, that’s also really cool.”

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