Electrical Engineer Wins a Medal in Paris

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This is what the Olympics is all about, in my eyes. Men and Women who excel in a sports, but also make a living outside that sport.

Meet Nic Fink, who claimed a silver medal in the men's 100m breaststroke on Sunday evening, manages his training obligations and competitive timetable in the pool alongside working a 9-to-5 job as an assistant project manager for an engineering company.

He has even has a LinkedIn page, but not for swimming.

For a large part of his swimming journey, Fink, 31, devoted all his time to the sport, but eventually, he sought a change. While he wasn't completely prepared to relinquish his aspirations as an athlete, he was also eager to embark on the next phase of his life.

Following his Olympic debut in Tokyo, he pursued a master's degree in electrical and electronics engineering at Georgia Tech. After completing his studies in December 2022, he commenced work at Quanta Utility Engineering Services, enabling him to work remotely from his residence in Dallas and maintain a flexible schedule to accommodate his other career.

During the recent Paris Olympics, Fink, the most senior member of the U.S. swim team, secured his inaugural Olympic medal, becoming the oldest first-time medalist in U.S. swimming history since 1904, according to SwimSwam. The competition culminated in a thrilling manner as Fink was narrowly out-touched by just .02 of a second by Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy and shared the silver with Adam Peaty of Great Britain.



Fink believes having a job, and balancing other interests with swimming, is a large part of the reason he was able to stand on the podium at this point in his career in a sport that often favors youth over experience.

"I did the whole professional swimming thing where I eat, sleep, swim, rinse and repeat," Fink said on Sunday. "And I just hit the point in my life where I threw the kitchen sink at swimming and saw what happened and I was happy with it, and it was a good way to kind of wrap up that part of my life.

"I was ready to move on to other stages while still trying to keep a high level in swimming. I think having the job really helps me compartmentalize everything. And if you have a bad day in the pool, it really takes your mind off things and kind of keeps you focused on other things in life. So that's why I like telling people to stay well-rounded and stay balanced because I think it only really helps in the pool."

Since Tokyo, when he placed fifth in the 200m breaststroke, Fink has achieved the most successful results of his career. Previously without a world championship title, he has now won six and secured seven other world championship medals.

He attributes his unconventional journey to providing him with a new outlook and helping him to value reaching the pinnacle of the sport at an age when most of his peers are no longer competing.

"It means more at this time, especially because there's definitely [been] windows to close my career earlier and I kind of kept going for the love of the sport," Fink explained. "To have this much success this late has been icing on the cake and a lot of fun."



 Fink and his wife Melanie Margalis Fink, who won a gold medal in swimming at the 2016 Olympics, are expecting their first child in September and as a result, Melanie couldn't join him in France for the event. Despite the prospect of starting a family and advancing his engineering career, Fink is uncertain about retiring from swimming after his time in Paris, as he believes his career has only improved over time. 

Fink isn't concerned about managing his time and is open to the idea of competing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, especially since it would be a home Olympics. He plans to focus on the relays for now and will deal with life after that when the time comes.

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