Finnick Odair Meets Michael Phelps

While reading an article about the recent blockbuster The Hunger Games, I discovered that casting has yet to take place for the role of Finnick Odair. All I remember thinking when I read the initial description of him in the books was, "Can you say Olympic swimmer?" Granted, I have a larger fascination with Olympic swimmers than most people, but I don't think this is too much of a stretch.

Ways Finnick Odair Is Like an Olympic Swimmer
1. He comes from a fishing district--he's comfortable in the water.
2. He's triumphed in the Hunger Games before--he's familiar with winning and being in the spotlight.
3. He has dozens of sponsors and endorsements--self-explanatory.
4. He comes off a bit arrogant at first--anyone would who holds several world records.
5. Underneath all that bravado and dating around, he just wants to settle down with the love of his life--hopefully that's you.
6. In the end, you can't help but cheer for him--root, root, root for the home team and all that.

If I were arguing this case in court, I would also bring up precedent. One of the best world-wide swimmers of the 1920s was Johnny Weismuller, an American who won six Olympic medals--five of them gold. Pick your modern equivalent from among Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps.

Weismuller capitalized on his Olympic stardom not through endorsement deals but through movie deals. He starred in 12 Tarzan films and invented the now-traditional Tarzan yell. At the conclusion of his Tarzan years, he donned a new role: Jungle Jim, for 13 movies and a short-lived TV series. He also played himself numerous times (a la James van der Beek).

Johnny Weismuller even played Adonis, a name synonymous with too-good-looking-even-for-Aphrodite. If that's not Finnick, I don't know what is.

It seems the only task left is to pick which current Olympic swimmer should assume the role. Let's take a look at some potential selections. Leave your choice in the comments.


The Obvious: Michael Phelps. He's the most decorated Olympian in history. He is easily the most recognized swimmer in the world right now. But he also has a tendency to get a little wild after his Olympic glory (cough: DUI; cough: mary-ju-wana). Maybe a role in Catching Fire would keep him under control?

The Bad Boy: Ryan Lochte. He's gone head-to-head with Michael Phelps numerous times--and won plenty of those meetings recently. He has Olympic tattoos. He's from Florida (certainly a water district). But he also has the horrid habit of wearing grills.

Gross.

The Dark Horse: Nathan Adrian. He's also gone head-to-head with Phelps--and won. Most recently, he won while wearing nothing but his birthday suit. Which only goes to show, he doesn't let anything stop him from winning. Very Finnick-y. Also, he's from Washington, which is where I imagined Finnick's district.

The Romantic: Matt Grevers. He has one Olympic medal to his name--a silver in the 100m backstroke--so he's not the most famous Olympic swimmer. But he recently proposed to his girlfriend on the medals stand after she won a major swimming competition, so you know his heart is made of gold. Also very Finnick-y.

The Promoted Sidekick: Garrett Weber-Gale. You know him as the guy who grabbed Michael Phelps during the nail biter 4x100m freestyle relay. Which means you know he can swim with the best of them. So maybe he should also compete in the Hunger Games with the best of them.

The Genius: Ben Wildman-Tobriner. I had actually completely forgotten about this guy, but based on his Wikipedia page, he is perfect. He went to Stanford. He graduated in Biomechanical engineering (you know I'm a big fan of guys who can do math or science, or both). He's in medical school. He's a California boy and looks like one, too. And he managed to fit in winning an Olympic medal into all that living. He's also my vote. The camera just loves him. (Possible Peeta resemblance?)

Perhaps we'll have more options after the pool closes in London. Only this summer will tell.