Michael Phelps reveals valuable mental lesson taught to him by coach Bob Bowman at a young age

Former swimming sensation Michael Phelps once again poured his heart out for his coach Bob Bowman. The latter coached the 39-year-old Olympic champion to several of his 28 Olympic medals in swimming.

In a recent episode of the Untapped podcast with Maya Raichoora, the secret behind Phelps' success at the Olympics was discussed, especially in terms of the mental conditioning techniques used by Bob Bowman. Raichoora talked about the under-race scenarios, including visualization of the race ahead.

Phelps immediately nodded with the approach, as he commented on the Instagram post.

"Truth"

Screengrab of Untapped Podcast about Michael Phelps [Image Source: Instagram]

Phelps further shared this on his Instagram story, with the following caption,

"@coach_bowman taught me this at a young age"

Screengrab of Phelps' recent Instagram story [Image Source: Michael Phelps' Instagram]

During Phelps' speech on being inducted into the US Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in the Class of 2022, the former Olympic swimmer paid a glowing tribute to Bowman's legacy, as he said,

"My coach, who at times, I'll say it, was a pain in the a**, but without him, I would not have the chance to be who I am in the swimming pool, period, or who I am on land. He taught me so much. He was a dad to me. He believed in me as an 11-year-old kid. He sat with me and my parents and said 'You could make the Olympic team in four years' and I was like, 'Oh, cool, let's go. Where do I sign up?'” [2:12 onwards]

Phelps' ex-coach, Bob Bowman, currently coaches students at the University of Texas. He also trains swimmers like Leon Marchand of France.

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Michael Phelps reflects on the power of consistent efforts towards his life goals

Michael Phelps recounts the power of consistency [Image Source: Getty]

Michael Phelps is arguably one of the greatest swimmers of all time. The former Olympic champion once recounted the power of consistent efforts towards his life goals. In a 2023 interview with World Aquatics, he recalled how he improved upon his mistakes in the London Olympics. Phelps mentioned,

"In the 2012 London Olympics, I didn't do the work and I got the results that I deserved. So I went to work. I didn't want to miss an opportunity; I couldn’t go back in time and get the opportunity back. That's why I always say it's important on the days where you don't want to do it, to give 10, 20, 50% toward that day."

The swimmer further added,

"So I can take a step towards my goal. Always keep moving forward towards your goal. On days you don't feel good, make yourself do something to make your body feel better, because if your body feels better, this [pointing to his head] feels better."

Michael Phelps retired after winning 5 Olympic gold medals and a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. With that, he won a lifetime total of 23 Olympic gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals.