After coaching Michael Phelps to 61 world and Olympic medals (49 of them gold), Bob Bowman is doing double duty. He is coaching the US team in Fukuoka, but some of his Arizona State University athletes swim for other countries. What then?
Bob Bowman met the press on the last day of swimming in a navy-blue USA t-shirt. A year ago, he wore FRANCE on his back, largely because he had just started coaching the French IM phenom Leon Marchand.
Bowman still does, and he was at the pool the night Marchand broke Michael Phelps’ last remining individual record, in the 200 IM. So how does Bowman straddle the line?
In terms of time management, he said, “Right now, it’s almost 100 percent USA. By the time we get to this meet, the internationals have done their training. I don’t really spend that much time on them. They know what to do.”
He also pointed out that he’s not the coach in Fukuoka with multiple interests. “There’s a global community in swimming,” he said. “Almost every one of the coaches on this deck is involved with more than one country’s swimmers.”
Cal Berkeley coach Dave Durden, for example, is coaching Israel here, but many of his Cal swimmers compete for the US. Similarly, Virginia Tech coach Sergio Lopez is an assistant coach for Mexico this week, but 11 of his Hokies are swimming for seven countries here.
“There’s a global community in swimming. Almost every one of the coaches on this deck is involved with more than one country’s swimmers.”
“It’s ethically okay to me,” Bowman said. “Bottom line is, I get paid to coach these guys at ASU. I’m representing my country for the love of my country. I’m happy to do that and I have some skills to do that, but I don’t think there’s any ethical question. Everybody gets support. It’s not zero-sum about taking away from the US guys. It’s really not.
“My concern when I’m here is that I’m, No. 1, taking care of every USA responsibility that I have. Making our relays as good as they can possibly be. Making sure these athletes are supported to the full extent. Then, outside of that, I can certainly keep an eye on Leon and see what’s going on. It’s not like he needs that much attention from me.”
Bowman’s most famous charge, Michael Phelps, was the same way.
In 2018, Bowman told FINA Magazine that, “when Michael was 11, I taught him to do a certain warmup. It’s the same warmup he did at every race, every meet, from that moment until he quit in 2016. We’d never discuss it. There is not one bit of emotional or psychological energy that goes into it. I feel that’s critical for any athlete.”
When asked about his other international athletes, Bowman didn’t hesitate to comment.
On Marchand, he said: “He got better when the pressure was highest. That’s a thing Michael always did. The great ones do. There are a lot of expectations, but I feel he’s done a very good rehearsal this year and last year. We’ll try to carry that over into Paris [at the Olympics next summer].”
“He got better when the pressure was highest. That’s a thing Michael always did. The great ones do."
Marchand won three gold medals this week: in 200 butterfly, 400 IM, and 200 IM in world-record time.
“I’m most pleased with the way [Leon] handled the pressure of the performances,” Bowman continued. “I’m pleased with how he put together each race. The best part was how he moved from race to race to race from prelims to semis to finals and improved each time. He managed his energy well.”
On Hubert Kos, the ASU swimmer who won gold and set a national record for Hungary in the 200 backstroke, he said: “Hubie had an excellent coach at home for 10 years before me. He deserves the credit. I just helped a little bit at the end. What we did improve on were his technical skills off the walls, underwater. Also, swimming the collegiate season, he got a better idea of what speed is like and how to manage that. He works very-very hard so it’s easy to help him get better. He’s competing with these other guys in practice and raises all of their levels.”
But critics say that the US has underperformed.
Last year in Budapest, the US won 17 golds. This year, only four (with seven finals remaining on Sunday night).
Bowman admitted to miscalculating Regan Smith’s taper after US Nationals. (Smith left Stanford to train with Bowman.)
“We clearly want better times. I hadn’t ever tapered her before,” Bowman said, adding that he wasn’t able to fully correct it between trials and the world championships. “I just rested her too much. I’ve learned now that she tapers in about two days, not eight days. But she’s had a great attitude. And I saw an amazing stat. She’s one of only four American women to win four individual medals [at worlds]. That’s a pretty impressive group she’s with.” (It also includes Katie Ledecky, Shirley Babashoff, and Tracy Caulkins.)
“By and large,” Bowman said of the US team, “the racing has been good compared to their individual standards. Obviously, we’d like to win more gold medals. I think there are a number of reasons for that – both bigger picture-wise and small ones. But overall, I’m pleased with how we raced.”
Finally, when asked who he would be coaching at the 2024 Paris Olympics: the stars and stripes or the tricolour of the host nation, Bowman demurred.
“I don’t think we know yet. I’ll have to [review] this week at home, think about what the scenarios look like, and decide then. We’ll see how it goes.”