Arizona State University was already home to multiple coaches with the Olympic rings on their resume before the infamous Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps long time swim coach, rolled in and took over the Sun Devil swimming program in April of 2015.
A year later, as we round the corner to the 2016 Rio Olympics, it seems Bowman was the icing on the cake for ASU as it prepares to make a statement at this summer’s games, hopefully, placing its name alongside other marquee Olympic training destinations like Oregon State and Stanford.
The university’s dedication to Olympic training was one of the deciding factors for Bowman, according to Cronkite News, especially with diving coach Mark Bradshaw, wrestling coach Zeke Jones, triathlon coach Cliff English, and swimming assistant coach Misty Hyman already on the roster. Each coach has experience competing in or coaching athletes for the Olympics.
Bowman has already earned the title of Olympic coaching legend as Phelps’ coach and mentor. Now, he’s looking to help build a program that creates Olympic champions in a multitude of sports, and he knows they need an impressive showing in Rio to attract more talent and catapult the program into the minds of young Olympic hopefuls everywhere.
The Sun Devils will send at least 20 athletes to Brazil at the beginning of August, according to pac-12.com. Approximately 180 Team USA athletes are from a Pac-12 university, and programs such as the U.S. Olympic water polo teams are made up almost entirely of Pac-12 athletes.
Obviously, the Pac-12 is no stranger to producing Olympians.
As the days draw near and the world prepares to crown the latest Olympic champions, there’s no doubt that ASU has already proven it can compete against it’s fellow Pac-12 schools and other Olympic training hotspots nationally and internationally, but the Sun Devil’s can’t just qualify for the Olympics to keep their program at that next level status.
So, what will it take?
Gold — and a lot of it.
The 2016 Summer Olympics begin August 5th in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All events will be live streamed on NBCsports.com.
