Ledecky, for her part, also has high praise for her training partner – even if she took the opportunity to get in a barb or two.
“Bobby swam his 800 much better than his 1500,” she said. “I think both of our 1500s were not quite what we wanted, but the 800s were good. Bobby looked good out there today – his freestyle was good today. And obviously, coming off the IM… Bobby had a few more rest days than I did. So he’s been slacking.”
“I’m getting old,” Finke replied. “I need my days off.”
In Singapore for the World Aquatics Championships, Finke, 25, and Ledecky, 28, know what to expect. That’s helping them embrace the moment without getting too far ahead of themselves.
“When I take the blocks, I always expect a challenge,” said Finke. “I don’t like going in expecting anything. I think that helps me a lot – it kind of lowers my expectations, and if I am pretty far ahead, I get a motivation boost and it helps me finish the rest of the race. It’s a lot of fun racing [international competitors] – they always bring the best out of me.”
They’re also embracing their roles as the veteran leaders of the U.S. squad, which combines seasoned returners and newcomers.
“I think we have a great group,” said Ledecky. “On the women’s side, it’s a very experienced group… and I know on the men’s side we’ve got a lot of newcomers as well. So it’ll be a lot of good energy.”
Finke echoed that sentiment: “We do have a lot of young faces and I think that’s a really good thing, a really positive thing for the rest of the quad. Going into L.A. is going to be very exciting, especially on home soil.”
He paused before adding, “It is weird that I am definitely one of the older ones on the team now.”
Still, if Ledecky has anything to say about it, this duo is far from done making history together in the pool.
“He talks about retirement every single week,” Ledecky said, seizing on a mention of LA28. “I love it when he starts talking about L.A., because I’m like, all right, I see you. I caught you. You’re going.”