Michael Phelps on Texas Contingent: ‘That’s a One of One Training Group’
It’s been a decade since Michael Phelps bid farewell to the competitive stage, six medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro raising his career count to 28, a seemingly unbreakable figure. The 41-year-old has no difficulty recalling some of his finest moments in the pool, a few rattled off during chats with media members at the recent Pan Pacific Championships in Southern California.
Phelps is a savant of his sport, and not just physically. As he watches races unfold, he picks up on minutiae. Even in retirement, he continues to maintain a deep handle on statistics and times, and where the current generation of athletes stands from a historical perspective. This rich knowledge emerges easily in conversation, Phelps able to make connections from the past to the present – sometimes in a fashion that confirms a trip down memory lane.
After winning eight medals (six gold) at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Phelps shifted his training base to the University of Michigan, as longtime coach Bob Bowman took the reins of the Big Ten Conference program, along with Club Wolverine. In Ann Arbor, Phelps engaged in daily training battles with Peter Vanderkaay, Klete Keller and Erik Vendt, to name a few. Those practice duels developed an appreciation for what a focused, like-minded group can deliver. Of course, the work led Phelps to his iconic eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
“It’s a gauntlet you get to go through every single day,” Phelps said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. Someone is going to step up and challenge you. For me, back in the day of the Michigan times, we had guys in backstroke, breaststroke, fly or free. It didn’t matter who they were, a college kid or a postgrad, they were going to step up and race.”
Michael Phelps. Courtesy: Peter H. Bick.
Phelps recalled his training at Michigan as part of a wider conversation about the group assembled by Bowman at the University of Texas. A hefty collection of the best swimmers in the world reside in Austin, headlined by the likes of Leon Marchand, Hubert Kos, Summer McIntosh and Regan Smith. The contingent also features Luke Hobson, Carson Foster and Simone Manuel, among others. All own Olympic medals.
On the road to the 2028 Olympic Games at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the setup promotes optimal preparation and the daily opportunity to match excellence vs. excellence.
“The group (Bowman) has built down there is insane,” said Phelps, a five-time Olympian. “That’s a one of one training group. The kind of talent there and the back-to-back days they build up, the kind of times they’re doing, holy (bleep). I’m not surprised to see (Marchand) go those times. I’m not surprised to see (McIntosh) go those times. Bob sends me the workouts. Every day, they have someone to go toe-to-toe with and that’s only helping them to build confidence and to stand up (on the blocks) and say, ‘No one on the planet has outworked me.’”
