Eric Finical

Inducted Class of 2025

Tucson High School was a swimming mega-power when Eric Finical was a Badger, and Finical was the club’s mega-star.
THS won back-to-back-to-back state championships in 1977, 1978 and 1979 as Finical set state and city records in the 50 and 100 freestyle. In 1979, the Badgers were ranked No 2 in the nation by Swimming World Magazine. Finical was Tucson’s boys swimmer of the year in 1979.
That attracted the attention of the Texas Longhorns, then perhaps the nation’s top college swimming program. Finical chose Texas over offers from other top programs and it was the right choice.
At Texas, Finical was an All-American in all four seasons — 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983. He didn’t win an individual NCAA championship, but he was part of the 4×100 relay team that won two NCAA titles. And he scored in the NCAAs in all four seasons as a Longhorn.
Finical’s Longhorn teammates referred to him as “Hydro.’’ As in “hydroplane,’’ for his unique ability to seemingly swim on top of the water. The 6-foot 2-inch Finical was named the No. 3 swimmer in Tucson boys history by the Arizona Daily Star in 2018, trailing only 1972 Olympic bronze medalist Doug Northway of Sahuaro and three-time USA Olympic Trials contender Marcus Titus of Flowing Wells and the UA.
Finical had a 3.86 GPA in pre-med during his Longhorn days. He later earned his doctor’s degree and served as an intern at a Tucson hospital. He served his medical residency at Duke. Finical now is a doctor in radiology in Greenville, N.C.