2016 Austin Elite Invite - Day 3 — Coach Bob Bowman talks with Michael Phelps during the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite on June 5, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman are closely watching a 19-year-old Hungarian swimming prodigy

Modified Mar 13, 2024 12:32 GMT

Michael Phelps is known around the world for being the most successful Olympian in the history of the Summer Games. His success as a swimmer has been attributed to his hard work, talent, and a near-perfect physique for the sport.

Throughout the legendary swimmer's career, one man has been in the shadows, helping Phelps perfect the art every step of the way. He is the legendary coach Bob Bowman, who now has his eyes on the 19-year-old Hungarian prodigy Zalán Sárkány

Bowman currently works as the head coach for the University of Arizona's Sun Devils, who have been known to produce some stellar swimmers over the years.

Sárkány recently joined the university in January and swam a record time in a University of Arizona team event. Reporter Magyar Nemzet said that Michael Phelps watched the youngster swim and congratulated him afterwards with a fist bump.

Bob Bowman and Michael Phelps of the United States (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Sárkány, who is aiming to become a prolific long-distance swimmer, took part in the 1000 yards freestyle where he broke a school record, that had stood from 1984, by seven seconds.

The very next day, he shaved three-tenths of a second off his own record and earlier this month, bettered the record by nearly a second. His record-breaking swim of 8:49.31 was witnessed by Bowman's most successful project yet, Michael Phelps, who was invited to the event after being away for almost three years.

On 10 February, Sárkány took on the 1650 yards at a meet in Las Vegas, where he broke the previous school record by more than a second. This moved him up to seventh place in the national rankings for this season.

Michael Phelps' former coach Bob Bowman 'called' Sárkány to join his ASU team

Zalán Sárkány, speaking to Hungary Today's reporter, gave an insight into Bowman's training method:

"Bob Bowman called me here to strengthen the team in the long haul, which has worked out well so far, but I am not even close to the times I could be ... The coach puts a lot of emphasis on motivation, before every training session we are given a piece of paper with the tasks and on the back there is an inspirational quote from a famous person. It may seem small, but it can add to the work."

Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps' coach (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The young swimmer also highlighted the intensity difference in training since joining Bowman's team:

"The difference is in the way the training is structured, at home I’m used to taking a minute or two off between each exercise, which is not the case here ... Each set has to be completed as quickly as possible within the set time limit, and when the time limit is reached, there is no rest, the next exercise starts straight away."

Sárkány is studying business at the university. As part of ASU's swim team, he will be heading to the spring finals of the NCAA Collegiate Championships and the PAC-12 Championships. The latter will take place at the same time as the second leg of the 2023 Pro Swim Series later this year.