Michael Phelps' coach Bob Bowman reacts to the Olympic gold medalist's heartfelt tribute

Michael Phelps' coach Bob Bowman reacted to the Olympic gold medalist's heartfelt tribute. The American athlete thanked Bob Bowman for being an integral part of his career and expressed his excitement to see what the future holds for the highly accomplished.

Bob Bowman trained Phelps since he was 11 years old at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club in Maryland. Bowman played an integral part in his career from his first Olympic appearance in 2000 to his final appearance in 2016. Bowman guided Michael Phelps through every challenge that he faced in his career and turned him into a very disciplined athlete, which helped him to dominate the swimming world like no other swimmer.

Moreover, as Phelps was preparing for his final Olympic appearance in Rio, Bob Bowman joined Arizona State University and began training NCAA swimmers as he pivoted into another phase of his career. Michael Phelps called Bowman 'the best' and thanked him for helping him throughout his career.

The American swimmer expressed his excitement to watch the upcoming swimmers who would be trained by Bowman in the near future. Bob Bowman reacted to Phelps' tribute and expressed his gratitude for making him one of the most successful coaches in the swimming circuit.

"Love you @m_phelpsOO !! You made EVERYTHING happen for me. So grateful for you!!" he wrote.

Bob Bowman reacts to Michael Phelps' tribute| Instagram@coach_bowman

While Bob Bowman thanked Michael Phelps for "everything", a few months back, he revealed how the legendary swimmer aided him in the latter stages of his career.

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Bob Bowman on how Michael Phelps improved in the later part of his career

Bob Bowman competes in Swimming - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 8 - Source: Getty

Bob Bowman spoke about training Michael Phelps in an interview with 'The Daily Stoic' and shared how certain aspects of the Olympic gold medalist truly separated him from the rest of the other swimmers. Bowman shared how Phelps would take ownership of his practice, which helped him to improve, as well as have an open discussion with him during training.

Bowman shared how he wanted swimmers to be more involved in planning their training routines, as it would help him understand their mindset as well as tailor the workout in such a manner that it would provide them with the maximum output.

“Michael, good example, right? So by the end, we were kind of working together much more, and he was taking ownership. And, you know, I remember there were times that later in Michael's career, and I'll give him some credit because he's like raised to think the coach is always right, which, you know, sometimes we are,” he said.

The highly accomplished coach revealed that bringing in the opinion of his trainees while planning helped him to understand them better and create a better training program for them.