Bob is the newly appointed Director of Swimming and Diving at the University of Texas. Prior to
his move to Austin, Bob coached the 2024 Arizona State’s Men’s Team to their first NCAA
Championship in school history.

Before this, Coach Bowman was best known as the longtime coach of the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, who won 23 Olympic gold medals in his swimming career (8 gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics).

 

However, Bowman’s success goes well beyond Michael’s achievements, as he has also coached a bevy of other Olympic gold medalists including Allison Schmitt, Chase Kalisz, Simone Manuel, Ryan Held, Yannick Angel, Kaitlan Sandeno, Peter Vanderkaay, Davis Tarwater, Conor Dwyer, and Klete Keller. He has been on four USA Olympic coaching staffs and seven World Championship teams. His swimmers have accounted for over 43 world and 50 American records.

 

Most recently his group of collegiate and professional athletes includes many of the above mentioned swimmers plus Leon Marchand, who broke Phelps’ world record in the 400IM at last summer’s World Championships. Others include world record holder Regan Smith, along with Hali Flickenger, Hubert Kos, Jenny Kulow, Olivia Smoliga, Lindsay Looney, Jay Litherland, Chloe Isleta, Xander Skinner, Jarod Arroya, Taylor Ruck, Grant House, Illya Kharun, Jack Dolan, and Iva Maluka, among many other 2024 Olympic hopefuls.

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Prior to his arrival Austin, Bob was the head coach at Arizona State. Before that he, he coached the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (twice) and the University of Michigan. After graduating from Florida State with a major in Developmental Psychology (minor in music composition), he worked his way up through the ranks… with stops at FSU, Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club, Napa Valley Swim Team, Cincinnati Pepsi Marlins, Las Vegas Gold, and the Birmingham Swim League. His diverse background and ability to relate to others have inspired Bob's success as a coach and motivational speaker.