The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men's Swimming and Diving
- Title:
- Director, Swimming and Diving / Head Coach, Men's Swimming
Bob Bowman was named Director of Swimming and Diving and Head Men's Coach at The University of Texas in April of 2024. Bowman took over a Longhorn powerhouse program built by the legendary Eddie Reese, who retired after 46 seasons at Texas. He's a Hall of Famer who served as the longtime coach of Michael Phelps and transformed the Arizona State program into a National Champion over nine seasons.
Bowman is the longtime coach of Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in any sport with 23 gold medals. Bowman served as the head men's coach for Team USA at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and worked as an assistant coach in the previous three Summer Olympics, including 2004 in Athens, 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London. Working alongside Reese, who served as Team USA's head coach in 2004 and 2008, as the primary coach for Phelps at the 2004 Games, Bowman helped Phelps claim eight total medals, including six gold and two bronze. Four years later at the 2008 Games, Phelps won eight Olympic gold medals, a feat that had never been done before in a single Olympiad.
Bowman becomes just the seventh head coach in the 89-year history of the Texas Men's Swimming and Diving program, joining Tex Robertson (1935-43, 1946-50), Art Burnham (1944), Bob Bollinger (1945), Hank Chapman (1951-69), Pat Patterson (1970-78) and Eddie Reese (1979-2024). Reese, who completed his 46th season at Texas in 2023-24, guided the Longhorns to a NCAA-leading 15 national team championships, 13 NCAA-runner-up finishes and 36 top-three finishes at the NCAA Championships. Under Reese's leadership, Texas earned 44 consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships and won an unprecedented 45-straight conference titles (28 Big 12 Conference/17 Southwest Conference). Reese will serve in a coach emeritus role for the Texas Swimming and Diving program.
A veteran of 13 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, Bowman takes over at Texas after spending the past nine seasons transforming Arizona State University into one of the top men's swimming and diving programs in the country. He has served as the head men's and women's swimming coach at ASU since the 2015-16 season.
When Bowman took over in Tempe, the Sun Devil men were coming off a fifth-place showing at the Pac-12 Championship and did not score at the NCAA Championship meet in 2015. Arizona State had not finished in the top-three at the Pac-12 meet since a second-place showing in 1995 and only had five top-three finishes at the conference meet since 1980. At the national level, ASU had never earned a team trophy (top four) at the NCAA Championship and had not finished higher than sixth place at the national meet when the Sun Devils accomplished that in 1982.
Bowman guided the Sun Devil men's team to the national title for the first time in program history at the recently-completed 2024 NCAA Championship. Arizona State posted a dominant 79-point victory (523.5-444.5) over runner-up California at the national meet, winning seven individual or relay titles and setting three NCAA records and nine school records. A total of 14 Sun Devil athletes received All-America honors during the four-day meet.
The Sun Devils also won their second-straight Pac-12 Championship in 2024 by a margin of 303 points, marking the second-highest margin of victory in conference history and most since California in 1995. ASU captured 16 individual and relay titles, broke 11 school records and set three NCAA records during its run to the Pac-12 Championship.
The Sun Devil women's team placed 24th in the final team standings at the 2024 NCAA Championship, marking the highest finish in five years (20th in 2019). Lindsay Looney claimed first-team All-America honors in the 200 fly and second-team All-America recognition in the 500 free, while the 800 free relay team also earned second-team All-America accolades. The ASU women set three school records (200 back, 800 free relay, 400 free relay) during the 2024 NCAA Championship meet.
Bowman guided the Sun Devil men's team to a historic season in 2022-23, winning the Pac-12 title and finishing second at the NCAA Championship. Léon Marchand won the 200 IM, 200 breast and 400 IM at the national meet, setting NCAA records in each event. The Sun Devil men also won their first Pac-12 Championship in program history, capturing nine individual and relay titles and breaking eight school records.
Bowman guided the Sun Devils to a No. 1 ranking in the nation for the first time in school history by the CSCAA (College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America) in December 2022. Marchand claimed Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year and CSCAA Division I Swimmer of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. Jonny Kulow earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year accolades, becoming the fourth Sun Devil under Bowman's tutelage to win the award. On the women's side, Looney became the fourth women's swimmer of the Bowman era to earn a Pac-12 individual title with wins in both the 200 fly and 500 free. She went on to earn first-team All-America honors with a fourth-place showing in the 200 fly at the NCAA Championship meet.
Bowman and his staff opted to redshirt the entire roster during the 2020-21 season, promoting the health and safety of the student-athletes amid COVID-19. After a year of meticulous training, the Sun Devil men took third at the Pac-12 Championship and sixth at the NCAA Championship meet in 2022. This marked the highest conference finish in 27 years and the top finish at the NCAA meet in 40 years. Prior to the sixth-place finish in 2022, the Sun Devils had not recorded a top-10 finish at nationals since a 10th-place result in 2003. As a freshman, Marchand won the 200 IM (NCAA-record time) and 200 breast at the national meet and claimed Pac-12 Men's Swimmer and Freshman of the Year honors. Bowman was named SwimSwam's National Coach of the Year. ASU's women took sixth at the Pac-12 Championship meet and 26th at nationals in 2021-22, highlighted by Erica Laning's conference title in the 500 free.
Bowman served as the Chief Operating Officer and Head Coach for the North Baltimore Aquatic Club in Baltimore, Md. from 2008 to 2015. During that time, he oversaw a number of high-performance swimmers and Olympic medalists. In addition to Phelps, Bowman guided Allison Schmitt to five medals, including three gold, at the 2012 Olympics, and coached 13-time international medalist Conor Dwyer.
Bowman worked as the Head Men's Swimming and Diving Coach at the University of Michigan for four seasons (2005-08). A two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2007 and 2008), he led the Wolverines to top-eight NCAA Championship finishes in each of his four seasons in Ann Arbor. Michigan placed sixth at nationals in both 2005 and 2008 and won the Big Ten Conference title in 2008. During his time at Michigan, Bowman coached three swimmers to a total of six NCAA individual titles (Davis Tarwater, 200 fly in 2005, 200 fly in 2006; Peter Vanderkaay, 500 free in 2005, 500 free in 2006; Alex Vanderkaay, 400 IM in 2007, 400 IM in 2008). The Wolverines registered a 30-8-1 overall record in dual meets during his four seasons, including a 21-1-1 mark against conference opponents.
Bowman spent a previous nine-year window (1996-2004) at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. He helped produce three individual national champions, 10 national finalists and five U.S. National Team members. During his first stint at the NBAC, Bowman began coaching Phelps and under Bowman's guidance, Phelps won five World Championship gold medals and was named the Swimming World's American Swimmer of the Year four-straight years from 2001 to 2004.
A native of Columbia, S.C., Bowman earned a bachelor of science degree in developmental psychology and a minor in music composition from Florida State University in 1987. He swam for the Seminoles for three seasons (1983-85), serving as a team captain during his final season.
Bowman began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Florida State and served as a coach at the Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club in 1986-87. He held assistant coaching positions with the Las Vegas Gold swim team (1988-90), the Cincinnati Pepsi Marlins (1990-91) and the Napa Valley Swim Team (1991-92). Bowman was the head coach and program director for the Birmingham Swim League (1992-94) and the head coach for the Napa Valley Swim Team (1994-97).
A 2010 inductee into the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Hall of Fame, Bowman is a five-time ASCA Coach of the Year and is the most-honored coach in the 40-plus years of the award. He has earned USA Swimming Coach of the Year honors six times, the USA Swimming Foundation's Golden Goggle Award four times and was the 2002 USA Swimming Developmental Coach of the Year.
Bowman was the U.S. men's head coach at the 2007, 2009 and 2013 FINA World Championships and an assistant coach at the 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2011 World Championships. Bowman's swimmers have set 43 world records and more than 50 American records under his guidance.
Bowman is heavily involved in a number of community-driven swim initiatives, including his work with the Michael Phelps Foundation and its signature program – "im" – that provides underserved children with water safety, recreational aquatic activities, and goal-setting programming. The Michael Phelps Foundation, for which Bowman serves as a board member, currently implements the "im" program in 35 Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 29 states as well as 160 teams through the Special Olympics in 34 countries.
