He won two gold medals for the United States in the 2020 Summer Olympics: the men's 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle swims.

At 14 years old, Finke broke the Florida Age Group State Championships (FLAGS) 800m freestyle meet record with a time of 8:25.20.

Finke also won the USA Swimming Open Water Junior Nationals by finishing first of all swimmers under 18 years of age.

Finke turned professional following the 2022 NCAA Championships and has continued training at the University of Florida under coach Anthony Nesty.

[5] In June 2021, Finke became one of 53 swimmers named to represent the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

[7][8] In his first Olympic event, Finke won the gold in the men's 800m freestyle, setting a new American record with a time of 7:41.87.

He took a silver in the 800m freestyle, finishing in 7:38.75, about a half-second behind gold medalist Daniel Wiffen of Ireland.

[17] In the 1500m freestyle, he became the only U.S. male swimmer to win an individual gold medal, finishing in a world-record time of 14:30.67.

[19] Finke set the world record in the 1500m Freestyle with a time of 14:30.67 to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

[16] In the short course pool, Finke set the American record in the 1650y Freestyle with a time of 14:12.08 at the 2020 SEC Championships.

Finke's mother Jeanne swam for Ball State, while his father Joe is a swim coach with Saint Petersburg Aquatics.