Michael Phelps thanks coach Bob Bowman for “wild yet amazing” career
Legendary swimmer Michael Phelps recently thanked his coach Bob Bowman for guiding him throughout his “wild yet amazing career.” The iconic athlete-coach partnership started when Phelps was 11 years old. It was Bowman’s consistent coaching through the years that made Phelps one of the most decorated Olympians.
The retired swimmer shared an interesting fact posted on an Instagram page, Swimming Stats. It analyzed a list of ‘the first swimmers to become multiple Olympic champions.’ In that list, the ‘Flying Fish’ was named as the only swimmer to become the ‘first four-time Olympic champion’ - in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.
Michael Phelps reshared it on his Instagram story and credited his dear coach. The swimmer wrote:
"A wild yet amazing career @coach_bowamn Thanks," he wrote.
Famously known as the Baltimore Bullet, Phelps boasts 28 Olympic medals, of which 23 are gold medals. Moreover, the retired swimmer has won a total of 33 medals during his six appearances at the FINA World Aquatics Championships - from 2001 to 2011. Phelps has been a proud recipient of several awards including the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2012 and 2016, the World Swimmer of the Year Award eight times, and the American Swimmer of the Year Award eleven times.
Although Phelps is known for his accolades, it was the 58-year-old coach Bob Bowman who recognized the Olympian in him when he was 7. Eventually, their partnership helped Phelps to become the ultimate swimming champion till he retired.
Bob Bowman pushed Michael Phelps to break the world record at 15
During his recent interaction with Dr. Bhrett McCabe, Michael Phelps mentioned an inspiring incident from his career.
He shared that at the age of 15, he experienced his first international trip to compete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He swam the 200m butterfly race and managed to secure a fifth-place finish.
After the race, the organizers handed him a piece of paper that read, ‘Congratulations.’ However, Phelps did not want it. Furthermore, he shared:
"That actually motivated me, because my coach, the very next day, I got back into training. He (his coach) put on a piece of paper. WR - World Record. Break a world record in six months. Guess what happened in six months? I broke that world record," said Phelps.
Phelps broke the world record in the 200m butterfly at the World Championship Trials for the 2001 World Aquatics Championships. Later on, he once again broke his world record in the 200m butterfly at the 2001 World Championships. Since then, he remained unstoppable, conquering the Olympics and the world championships on multiple occasions.