Updated with Katie Hoff comment.
FULLERTON, California, August 17. KATIE Hoff is the first of the big names with no ties to KING Aquatics to surface in connection with the USOC Post-Grad Center, first reported by Swimming World, to be housed in Fullerton, Calif. After a difficult year, Hoff has chosen to move cross country from her longtime headquarters at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club.
"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work with Katie," FAST's high performance coach Sean Hutchison told Swimming World. "Bob [Bowman] and I have talked about this and he is very supportive of the move and only wants Katie to be happy and successful."
The move will be Hoff's second coaching change since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Before the past long course season, Hoff moved from Paul Yetter to Bob Bowman at NBAC. Yetter has since left NBAC to become an assistant coach at Auburn University.
Hoff went into 2008 on fire with world titles in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 800 free relay on her resume. Some reports even speculated whether Hoff could out-produce Michael Phelps heading into Beijing. Hoff still did well in Beijing with a silver medal in the 400 free, and bronze medals in the 400 IM and 800 free relay. A gold medal, however, was at the top of her list of expected achievements.
With a new personal coach in Bowman, Hoff entered the 2009 season with new hopes. Those hopes were dashed this summer when she suffered an illness heading into the 2009 U.S. World Championships Trials, and did not make the team.
The move is a return to her roots as Hoff was born in Palo Alto, Calif. She will also have good friend Caroline Burckle to train with, as Burckle has been confirmed to be moving to the new training center.
"I am super excited, and was in need of a fresh start," Hoff told Swimming World. "I think that FAST, swimming with Sean, is the right place for me right now. This year has obviously been rough for me. After Nationals, I just took a step back and decided what I wanted to do. I heard about the opportunity at FAST right after Nationals. After talking to Caroline [Burckle] about the opportunity, I was looking forward to having girls to train with that were my same age. I also never got to go away to college either, so this is similar to that. So, I am looking forward to that change as well."
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August 18, 2009 I've been a long-time fan of Katie, and I think this move will work wonders for her. Bob Bowman is an amazing coach, but as it is with any learning situation, you have to find a teacher that fits your own learning style. Here's to hoping that Katie found her's!
http://swim-ami.blogspot.com Submitted by: Lindsey
August 18, 2009 Good for Katie! I hope she's finally found a good fit, because as great a coach as Bowman is, there is no such thing as one-coach-benefits-all. Everyone has different personalities and different learning styles. I had heard that she wasn't getting along well with Bowman's style of coaching. Plus the way he talked about her to the press at Worlds was extremely tactless. I'm not surprised she's moving on.
http://swim-ami.blogspot.com Submitted by: Lindsey
August 18, 2009 This could be a great move for Katie. Hutchinson has a great resume with top female swimmers. While Bowman is no doubt a great coach I just don't think it was the right fit for Katie. Good luck to Katie and Coach Hutchinson! Submitted by: squiggles255
August 18, 2009 I'm sorry it didn't work out for Katie with Bowman, but excited to see how she'll do with some great training partners in SoCal.
I, too, was disappointed with Bowman's lack of class and humility when discussing Hoff recently. As half of the greatest coaching/swimmer duo in history, he above all should know that it takes a great match, not just a great swimmer or great coach. Submitted by: liquidassets
August 19, 2009 What did Bowman say about Katie? I missed these comments? Can I read them somewhere? Submitted by: JakedBadForYou
August 19, 2009 Yes I'd like to see the comments too - what article were they in? Submitted by: swammer03
August 19, 2009 The comments are seen in an article here:
http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=204759393 Submitted by: Jason Marsteller
August 19, 2009 I read the article twice (just now) dissecting what Bowman said and I can't find anything that was disrespectful towards Katie.
Too bad she can't get Manadou to go with her to FAST. THAT would be an incredible scene! ;o) Submitted by: paddles
August 19, 2009 OK I may have misinterpreted it; I thought it sounded like he implied that she didn't reach her goals twice now because she lacked the passion for it. I went back and looked and now I'm not sure about whether he implied a causal relationship in the past, regarding her passion, or whether he meant he didn't know whether she had the passion from now, going forward. Coming after her poor showing at trials, the timing was awkward. Hopefully the move will give her any passion she may be lacking.
Submitted by: liquidassets
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