Michael Phelps’ coach was “afraid to death” over swimmers’ future after 2014 controversy


Michael Phelps’ coach was “afraid to death” over swimmers’ future after 2014 controversy

Michael Phelps [Image Credit- GQ]

Michael Phelps made his Olympic debut at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and after that, there was no stopping him. Jump to the 2012 London Olympics, and he went on to smash all records as he went on to win 22 medals.

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The American swimmer achieved legendary status by sacrificing everything and devoting his soul to training. However, that surely took a toll on his mental health and he was exhausted to the point where he committed serious crimes.

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Bob Bowman is the man behind Phelps’ success

Michael Phelps has won record 28 Olympic medals.
Michael Phelps has won record 28 Olympic medals.

The man behind Phelps‘ exceptional growth was Bob Bowman who coached and mentored him at a young age and made him a superstar in the world of swimming. However, soon everything fell apart.

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Bowman and Phelps split up after the London Olympics. The 37-year-old swimmer took a brief break from swimming, while Bowman avoided coaching other swimmers.

However, Phelps returned to the pool and wanted the help of Bowman once again. However, Bowman had other plans and didn’t want to go through the process with Phelps again.

Mentally, Phelps was not ready for the return and Bowman knew that. However, despite having question marks, the coach took him under his wing once again but demanded assurances that he would behave and would stay out of trouble.

But destiny had some other plans when police arrested the US swimmer for DUI in 2014. When the cops pulled him over, Phelps was overspeeding at 84 mph in a narrow street. He was then tested 0.14 on his blood alcohol test and he was all over the news for all the wrong reasons.

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“When that happened, I was like, ‘That’s it — you’re never going to change. And I was scared to death what the rest of his life was going to look like,” mentioned Bowman, who knew the similar path he had in 2004.

But soon came to the road of redemption as well after he was found guilty and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. He admitted that he was depressed during that period and promised himself to not drink alcohol till the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Everything started to fall back into place thanks to hard work. He gave it all during his training and thanks to that he won six Olympic medals, five of which were gold in his last ever Olympics.

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