Bob Bowman Sees Similiarities Between Summer McIntosh and Michael Phelps
As the man who guided Michael Phelps to never-before-seen Olympic glory and as the coach who guided Leon Marchand to four-time Olympic champion status, Bob Bowman obviously recognizes the characteristics required for greatness. So, when Bowman heaped compliments on Summer McIntosh earlier this week at the Bell Canadian Trials, his words carried significant weight.
On the opening day of the meet in Montreal, McIntosh broke the longstanding world record in the 200-meter butterfly, going 2:01.65. That performance wiped out the 16-year-old standard of China’s Liu Zige, who went 2:01.81 late in the 2009 campaign, and while wearing a now-banned super suit. The 19-year-old McIntosh followed with a victory in the 400 individual medley, but an illness that started to show signs on Monday forced McIntosh to withdraw from the meet on Tuesday. McIntosh was slated to race the 400 freestyle and 200 IM for her final two events.
Still, McIntosh shined during her races in Montreal, and Bowman knows she stands in elite company.
“It’s hard to start naming the best women swimmers of all-time and not say her, right? Even now,” Bowman said in an interview with the CBC.
Yes, McIntosh – as a teenager – is already a legend in the sport, and her best days figure to await. At one time, the world record in the 200 fly was deemed untouchable. McIntosh tracked it down. In the 400 IM, she knows no peer. The same can be said for the 200 IM and 400 freestyle, and Bowman sees commonalities between his Canadian charge and Phelps, who won 28 Olympic medals under Bowman’s mentorship.
“They’re very similar,” Bowman said. “Scarily similar in some ways…(McIntosh has) a lot of the same things that Michael had. She has a very clear way of preparing for races. She knows exactly what her routine is from the time she walks in until the time that she swims, and then afterward, there’s a whole thing that is locked in.”
On a daily basis, McIntosh trains with a pro group that features some of the best swimmers in the world, including Marchand, Regan Smith and Hubert Kos. More, with youth on her side, McIntosh has her best days ahead.
“I think she’s entering it, probably in the next four years,” Bowman said of her prime. “I think she can be stronger. There are a lot of things that we can add to help her be faster…just in terms of her physiological maturity kind of now and in the next few years.”