AUSTIN, Texas — There is a lot of swimming during Summer Olympic Games. In fact, there are 35 individual swimming events at the Summer Olympics currently underway in Paris.
One name that you'll hear quite a bit during those events? That of Bob Bowman, the head coach of men's swimming at the University of Texas at Austin.
The longtime coach of Michael Phelps – the most decorated Olympian of all time – Bowman is currently serving as an assistant coach to the French men's swim team. His star pupil across the pond is Léon Marchand, who has won gold in the men's 400-meter individual medley, the 200-meter butterfly, the 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley.
But that's not all. Bowman also coaches Hungarian Hubert Kós, who won gold in the 200-meter backstroke.
"His magic touch is the work," Kós told the Associated Press. "He doesn’t really let us be second best. He doesn’t let us stoop down to a level that he doesn’t want from us."
Bowman, 59, is a former Florida State University swimmer who later served as an assistant coach at his alma mater. He then moved on to Arizona State, where he led the men's swim and dive team to a national championship this past spring.
In April, he was named the director of Swimming and Diving and head men's coach at UT, where he trains both Marchand and Kós. He replaced Longhorn legend Eddie Reese, who is regarded by many as the greatest swim coach of all time.
"This is a dream job for any coach in this country or in the world," Bowman said when he took the UT job earlier this year.
Bowman also served as a U.S. Olympic coach in 2004, 2008 and 2012. In 2015, USA Swimming appointed him the head coach of the men's 2016 Olympic Team, the same year Phelps competed in the Olympics for the final time.
