Miami lawyer Alan Fertel, right, at the Paris Olympics with client Bobby Finke’s parents, Jeanne and Joe. Finke won the 1,500-meter freestyle and preserved a tradition that has seen U.S. men’s swimming take at least one individual Olympic gold medal since 1900. “Bobby Finke saved U.S. men’s swimming,” Fertel says. “If Bobby Finke doesn’t win a gold medal, the U.S. is shut out for the first time in Olympic history. Not only does the kid win a gold medal, he sets a world record. It was the most unbelievable evening.”

Jet lag and a rocky readjustment to the Eastern Time Zone haven’t dulled Miami lawyer Alan Fertel’s Olympic high.

“I’m riding this post-Olympic crest,” he said. “You say to yourself, ‘was it dream? Was it a fantasy?’ And it turns out, it was real.”