WFCN –
Bob Bowman, the legendary Olympic swim coach, may not be holding the position of team captain in Paris, but his imprint is evident on every medal podium at La Defense Arena.
On Thursday, he had two more swimmers from Arizona State and UT in the finals who won medals.
In the men’s 200 backstroke event, Hungary’s Hubert Kos—now trained at Texas after winning the NCAA title at Arizona State—captured the nation’s first medal since 1980. Gold in any sport at the Paris Games is a first for Hungary.
In the women’s 200-meter butterfly, Regan Smith—who trained with Bowman at Arizona State University and is currently a student at Texas—not only set a new American record, but she also won silver. In addition to her 100 backstroke silver medal from Tuesday, she will be competing for yet another medal in Friday’s 200 backstroke.
Image – Alton Telegraph
United States Olympic great and all-time medal winner Michael Phelps trained under Bowman for many years. In 2024, Bowman won the men’s NCAA title with Arizona State before taking the head coaching position at Texas.
Two more students of Bowman’s from Arizona State University—Leon Marchand of France and Ilya Kharun of Canada—won medals in the men’s 200-meter butterfly event on Wednesday.
In addition swimming his 400-meter individual medley and 200-breaststroke gold medals, Marchand is creating history in Paris. Attempting to add to his four golds thus far, he will compete in the 200 individual medley on Friday.
This past summer, Stanford alum Simone Manuel trained with Bowman in Tempe and was a member of the women’s 4×100 and 4×200 freestyle relay teams that won silver. She’ll get another shot at the podium in the 50 freestyle this coming weekend.
In case you were wondering, Bowman’s team has won nine medals in Paris so far, which is almost 12.5% of all swimming medals.