All quotes courtesy of Devin Heroux of CBC Sports activities.
Bob Bowman and Summer time McIntosh spoke extremely of each other through the Professional Swim Sequence cease in Austin earlier this month, bearing on all the things from comparisons to Michael Phelps to McIntosh’s lofty targets for the LA Olympics.
Talking with CBC Sports activities’ Devin Heroux, Bowman praised McIntosh and what he’s seen from the 19-year-old since she joined his coaching group on the College of Texas final fall.
“What makes her nice is her mindset for positive,” Bowman mentioned, based on Heroux. “She is sort of unflappable within the coaching and likewise within the meets, at the very least from what I’ve seen to this point. I haven’t taken her to an enormous meet, however I’ve seen her at these meets — she sticks to the plan. She focuses on what she must do, and she or he’s prepared to do the preparation, which is the essential half.
“And so when she is available in daily of observe, I may give her something, and she’s going to say thanks and what else would you like me to do. That’s her perspective. It’s like no matter it takes, she is prepared to do.”
McIntosh mentioned Bowman’s funding and enthusiasm day in and day trip units the tone for all the group.
“He’s a tremendous coach, and we’re simply getting began and attending to know one another,” McIntosh instructed Heroux. “However to this point it’s been nice. He’s extraordinarily right down to earth and truly very straightforward to speak to, despite the fact that he’s the Bob Bowman.
“He comes on deck daily with a fantastic perspective. He needs to be there. He coaches each single meter that we do, he’s absolutely engaged within the observe. I simply assume that sort of rubs off on all the swimmers and we sort of carry that form of perspective in direction of our personal swimming as properly.”
Even earlier than she joined Bowman, McIntosh had been drawing Phelps comparisons over the previous few years, resulting from each her sheer dominance in a number of disciplines and, extra particularly, competing in lots of the similar occasions as Phelps.
“I believe it’s particularly reasonable as a result of they swim virtually equivalent packages,” Bowman instructed Heroux relating to the comparisons between Phelps and McIntosh, who each have the 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM as arguably their three finest occasions.
“They’re generational skills, they work at a really excessive stage, and so I definitely perceive the similarities.”
The one distinction between the 2 program-wise at their peak is that Phelps swam the 200 free and 100 fly as his fourth and fifth occasions, whereas McIntosh is the world document holder within the 400 free and went as much as the 800 free eventually summer time’s World Championships, although she has spoken about getting again to the highest of her recreation within the 200 free lately.
“I need to take her so far as she will go,” Bowman mentioned. “And if she does that, I believe she’ll find yourself being proper up there.“
On the 2025 World Championships, previous to becoming a member of Bowman, McIntosh turned simply the second girl ever to win 4 particular person golds at a single version of the meet, becoming a member of Katie Ledecky, and she or he additionally turned the second girl to win 5 particular person medals at a single version of the meet, becoming a member of Sarah Sjostrom.
The one swimmer who has ever received 5 particular person gold medals at a single version of the World Championships, or a single Olympics, is Phelps, who, guided by Bowman, completed the feats in back-to-back years on the 2007 Worlds in Melbourne and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
McIntosh and Bowman have been open about their goal of 5 particular person golds on the LA Olympics.
“I believe whenever you’re chasing one thing that’s as exhausting as getting 5 particular person gold medals at an Olympic Video games, you’ve got to have the ability to say it out loud and you’ve got to have the ability to share that dream along with your coaches and people who find themselves surrounding you, as a result of it’s not going to return straightforward,” McIntosh mentioned.
“It’s one thing that you need to commit your self to each single day. Even saying it out loud to Bob Bowman as properly, I really feel prefer it sort of makes it extra actual for me and naturally, he’s been by somebody making an attempt to get eight gold medals earlier than, so he is aware of what it takes to get there.”
Bowman mentioned, “She’s acquired huge targets. I do know precisely what they’re. We talked about them on minute one. She instructed me all the things she needs to do.
“They’re all doable and I believe we’ve a plan to get there. I simply assume she has to take pleasure in these steps alongside the best way and simply maintain feeling like she’s getting higher incrementally. And if we do this for the subsequent two years, she’ll be the place she needs to be.”
McIntosh additionally spoke about one other certainly one of her targets, breaking the super-suited world document within the ladies’s 200 fly, whereas Bowman touched on a few of the areas of enchancment they’re at present engaged on, together with “getting bodily stronger” and a few “technical issues.”
“We’re making an attempt to actually assume long run to the top of the summer time, so we’re not making an attempt to wow anyone with what we’re doing proper now as a result of she must put within the work, in order that’s what we’re doing,” Bowman mentioned.
McIntosh additionally famous that she’s enrolled in an accounting class at Texas, starting across the begin of February.
“Getting a college schooling has all the time been crucial to me, and my highschool was sort of dragged out due to the timing of the Olympics,” she mentioned. “It’s actually essential to get an schooling. You may’t swim ceaselessly.”
On the Austin Professional Swim the weekend earlier than final, McIntosh received the ladies’s 200 IM (2:08.48) and 400 IM (4:28.13) whereas inserting 2nd within the 100 fly (58.56) and 4th within the 100 free (54.91).
Whereas praising the breaststroke leg of her 400 IM, Bowman mentioned he didn’t like McIntosh’s backstroke leg, making it clear he isn’t afraid to problem her in pursuit of excellence.
Learn Heroux’s full story on CBC.ca right here.
