Ian Finnerty (born August 2, 1996) is a retired American competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specialized in the

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

and

individual medley Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle—into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay. Individual ...

events. He represented the

DC Trident DC Trident is a professional swimming team based in Washington, D.C. DC Trident competes in the International Swimming League (ISL), which is a global, professional swimming league consisting of ten teams: the DC Trident, the New York Breakers, ...

which is part of the

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

. Finnerty is the current holder of the American record in the 100 yard breaststroke and a former American record holder in the short course 50 meter breaststroke and 100 meter breaststroke events.

Early life

Ian Finnerty was born August 2, 1996, in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

, as the son of Stephen Finnerty and Dina Adkins. Finnerty attended

Bloomington High School South Bloomington High School South (simply referred to as BHSS or South) is a public high school in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Monroe County Community School Corporation. Athletics The Panthers compete in the Conference ...

and was an All-American in the 100-yard

, 100-yard

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

, 200-yard medley and the 400

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

relays. He was also the school record holder in the 100-yard

and

. Finnerty swam collegiately at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

from 2015 to 2019.

College career

As a freshman for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

, he won his first Big Ten Conference Championship title in the 100-yard

with a 51.75. Finnerty also placed fourth in the 200-yard IM and sixth in the 200-yard

. At the 2016 Men's NCAA Division I Championships, he qualified for the B-final in the 100-yard

and finished 13th with a time of 52.60. The following year as a sophomore, Finnerty defended his B1G Championships title and took the first place in the 100-yard

with a 51.38. He bettered his placement in the 200 IM and moved up to second place. At the 2016 Men's NCAA Division I Championships, Finnerty finished 17th in the 100-yard

. He was also a member of both medley relays, helping the Hoosiers place sixth in the 400-yard medley relay. Finnerty won the 100-yard

at the B1G Championships for the third year in a row with a 50.72. He also won the 200

with a best time of 1:50.78. At the 2018 NCAA Division I Championships, Finnerty became the first swimmer to break the 50 second mark in the 100-yard

by going a 49.69. Finnerty's time of 49.69 seconds set a new American record in the event and broke the freshly minted record

Caeleb Dressel Caeleb Remel Dressel (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won ...

set not two months earlier at 50.03 seconds.Neidigh, Lauren (March 23, 2018)
"Indiana's Ian Finnerty Swims Historic 49 100 Breast"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

''. Retrieved September 28, 2021. This was his first individual NCAA title. He also won the 200-yard

with a time of 1:50.17, a new Big Ten record for the event, contributed to the first-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, and became the first male swimmer from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

to sweep the breaststroke events at a single NCAA championships.Woods, David (March 24, 2018)
"Hoosiers third in NCAA swimming for best finish in 43 years"
''

IndyStar ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...

''. Retrieved September 28, 2021. As a senior, Finnerty successfully defended his B1G title in the 100-yard

, making it a clean sweep of all 4 years. He placed third in the 200 IM, and successfully defended his B1G title in the 200

, with a new meet record of 1:50.30. At the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships, Finnerty defended his NCAA title in the 100-yard

going under 50 for the second year straight. He placed seventh overall in the 200-yard IM and third in the 200-yard

. He was also a member of the 400-yard medley relay that finished first once again.

International career

At the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, Finnerty placed 11th in the 100m

2019 World University Games

At the 2018 National Swimming Championships in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, Finnerty finished third in the 50m

Breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

(27.19) and tied for 10th in the 100m

(1:00.93), which gave him a spot on the 2019 World University Games roster. At the meet he won gold in the 100m and bronze in the 50m

International Swimming League

Finnerty was a member of the inaugural

(ISL) representing

. He competed at the first two matches held in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

and

Naples, Italy Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, as well as on the American Derby held in

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known a ...

. In the American Derby, Finnerty broke two American short course meters records in the 50m and 100m

with 25.99 and 56.29. His time of 25.99 seconds marked the first time an American swimmer finished the short course 50 meter breaststroke in less than 26 seconds and was over a tenth of a second faster than the record he broke of 26.10 seconds set by Michael Andrew in 2018.Anderson, Jared (November 16, 2019)
"Ian Finnerty Breaks American Record In 50 Breast At ISL American Derby"
''

''. Retrieved September 27, 2021. For the 100 meter breaststroke, his time of 56.29 seconds was also over one tenth of a second faster than the former American record set by

Cody Miller Cody William Miller (born January 9, 1992) is an American competitive swimmer. He is a former world record holder in both the men's 4×50 meter freestyle relay and the mixed 4×50 meter freestyle relay as well as a former American record holde ...

at 56.43 seconds.

National records

Short course meters (25 m pool)

Legend: NR – American record; US – US Open record

Shorts course yards (25 yd pool)

Legend: NR – American record; US – US Open record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnerty, Ian 1996 births Living people Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade bronze medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2019 Summer Universiade American male breaststroke swimmers American male medley swimmers 21st-century American people