Summer McIntosh: A new era for elite swimming
With three Olympic golds, eight world titles and six individual world records all before her 19th birthday, McIntosh’s desire to test where her limits lie makes her shift towards the former US Olympic coach a strategic one.
Bowman’s resume, peppered with achievements, is perhaps most notable for his time spent coaching
23-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps.
The current coach of the Longhorns started with the swimming prodigy at the age of 11 and oversaw the bulk of Phelps’ career from 1996 to 2016.
Together, the two would form one of the greatest coach-athlete partnerships in the history of sport, with Phelps to this day the most decorated Olympian of all time.
But Bowman’s touch doesn’t stop there.
In 2020, France’s Léon Marchand accepted a full scholarship to join Bowman at Arizona State University, where he was then coaching, and the pair became an indomitable force.
In three seasons, Marchand would win 10 individual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles, and the Sun Devils would go on to claim their first-ever team title.
When Bowman left Arizona for Texas, Marchand moved with him. And when the Paris 2024 Olympics came into view, the US coach star took on a role with the French team so he could work side-by-side with his latest protégé.
The results speak for themselves.
In front of a packed La Défense Arena, Marchand became a beacon of inspiration for France during its home Games, scooping up four Olympic golds, including two inside 90 minutes in a remarkable Wednesday night in August.
A year later, at the same World Aquatic Championships in Singapore where McIntosh took home four individual titles and a bronze, Marchand, on a reduced schedule, won two individual golds and claimed a world record in the 200 individual medley.