In this episode of Unfiltered Waters, Elizabeth Beisel and Todd Anderson host in Katie Hoff’s place while she stays home to welcome her baby girl, sitting down with four time Olympic gold medalist Bobby Finke ahead of the Pan Pacific Championships. It is a different year for him: no Olympic Trials, and a rare full month home in July. He first swam this meet eight years ago. So what does it feel like to chase the same nerves that have carried him to gold every time, on purpose?

Bobby explains how this taper differs from years past: he backs off harder than training partner Katie Ledecky, who grinds through heavier mileage in the same buildup, and he stops lifting almost entirely three weeks out. His lineup covers the 400 IM, 800 free, and 1500 free, plus one additional event he is unsure he will swim. He names Sam Short as the rival he most wants to race again after a loss at Westmont. Todd presses him on how differently elite swimmers can prepare for the same meet.

Along the way, the conversation goes places most swim interviews do not: a team cook off scandal involving coach Anthony Nesty demanding a meatball remake over a bag of salad dressing, an eight month Lego build of Rivendell from The Lord of the Rings running six to seven thousand pieces, and his poodle Phil making a daycare best friend before a post meet trip to Italy with girlfriend Ellie. His signature closing kick is so feared it has become an actual verb on the team, and he admits it still “takes years off my life” every time.