The following is a press release courtesy of USA Swimming:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Two of swimming’s most decorated coaches – Bob Bowman (Baltimore, Md.) and Teri McKeever (Berkeley, Calif.) – have been selected to lead the United States’ team as head coaches at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, USA Swimming announced at this month’s National Team Coaches Seminar at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
“USA Swimming is thrilled to name Bob Bowman and Teri McKeever as head coaches for this summer’s Pan Pacific Championships,” USA Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch said. “Bob and Teri are two of the brightest minds in our sport, and our team will be well-positioned for continued international success under their guidance.”
The 2014 Pan Pacific Championships will be held Aug. 21-25 in Gold Coast, Australia. American swimmers will qualify for the U.S. roster at the 2014 Phillips 66 National Championships, slated for Aug. 6-10 in Irvine, Calif. The assistant coaches for the staff will be named following Nationals.
Selected as men’s head coach for the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, Bowman is the CEO and head coach of North Baltimore Aquatic Club where he has coached since 2008. There, he currently oversees Olympic gold medalists such as Michael Phelps, Allison Schmitt and Conor Dwyer, as well as rising stars like 2013 FINA World Championships team members Chase Kalisz and Becca Mann.
Bowman has coached Phelps to a record 22 Olympic medals and has worked with high-performance swimmers like Peter Vanderkaay and Eric Vendt throughout his career. Prior to taking over at NBAC, Bowman was the head coach of the men’s swimming and diving team at University of Michigan and was the head coach of Club Wolverine.
An American Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame selection in 2010, Bowman has been named National Coach of the Year by the ASCA five times and the USA Swimming Coach of the Year on six occasions (both most recently in 2012).
Bowman has served as the U.S. men’s head coach at the 2007, 2009 and 2013 FINA World Championships and has been an assistant coach for the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and the 2001, 2003 and 2005 World Championships.
McKeever, selected as the women’s head coach for the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, recently completed her 22nd season as head coach for the University of California, Berkeley’s women’s swimming and diving team. She has led the Golden Bears to three NCAA Championships in the past six years, including consecutive national titles in 2011 and 2012. McKeever is a three-time coach of the meet award winner at the NCAA Championships and a six-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
She has coached prolific Olympians such as Natalie Coughlin, Dana Vollmer and Caitlin Leverenz, and currently mentors Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, who just wrapped up her freshman season in Berkeley.
McKeever made her mark on Olympic history by becoming the first woman to serve as the head coach for a U.S. Olympic swim team in 2012. She was previously the first female assistant coach of the U.S. Olympic teams in 2004 and 2008. McKeever was the head coach of the U.S. team at the 2006 and 2010 Pan Pacific Championships, and served as an assistant coach for the 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2013 FINA World Championships. McKeever was named the 2002 ASCA Coach of the Year.
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships are held under the oversight of the Pan Pacific Swimming Association. The Association was established in the mid-1980s and is made up of the four founding swimming federations – Swimming Australia, Swimming Canada, the Japan Amateur Swimming Federations and USA Swimming. These charter nations developed the concept of the swimming competition to provide their national teams with first-class international competition between the two major international swimming competitions – the Olympic Games and the FINA World Championships.
About USA Swimming
As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 400,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.
I am pretty sure for the Olympics, coaches are selected based upon how many of their swimmers qualify for the Olympics and/or how many medals their swimmers are expected to win. At that point, a coach can accept it or turn it down. So it’s not necessarily who we all think is the best coach, it’s what coaches have the most swimmers at the Olympics or who has the best chances for medals. Durden just has Adrian and Ervin, and in 2012, they qualified in a total of 2 individual events. Since then, I’d say they both are a bit better, though.
Meehan has Dirado and Neal for now. Simone Manuel is coming next year, so that makes 3.… Read more »
Given the results both had in London 2012 and last year’s WCs and the good number of swimmers who improved from their selection meet times, it seems like a logical pick, good old boys and girls club or not. However they led training camps, it world well.
I think head coach is mostly administrative, compared to hands on coaching. I believe they are responsible for coordinating the practice groups and making sure that swimmers get what their home coaches want done. This could be why more experienced coaches usually get the head coaching job.
I trust Coach Durden will be selected as an assistant for the team. I also trust that he will be highly considered for Rio as well-for the Head Coach job. 3 titles in 4 years, his dominant and growing grad team–the resume speaks for itself.
I think he’d be a lock for an assistant spot in Rio… probably needs one under his belt before he’s named Head Coach. But it’s time for him to get in the loop.
A general questions about coaching at these elite meets – what do the coaches actually do? I mean, most of the swimmers coming in have their own respective coaches and teams. I assume Bowman is not out there giving Ryan Lochte pointers on stroke techniques, etc. Is it all about relay selection and prestige?
The teams train for a few weeks, so there is a lot of coordinating with home coaches? Running their ‘group’ during the lead up to the meets. And team bonding, meetings etc. Is a big part of it. They basically have to make sure every athlete gets what they need to be successful- which is a huge task as you’ve got 20-30 athletes from 15-20 programs with all kinds of needs.
Agree with both comments. Time for some new coaches to lead–always the same names at both the JrNational/National team level. Meehan, Durden, and Bottom would all be good-or Salo, Demont…
don’t think it will happen unfortunately bobo. there is a good old boys (and teri) system in the usa and unfortunately, greg and dave haven’t broken into that circle yet.
Usual names for 2014.
I endorse Greg Meehan as coach of the future women’s American olympic team in Rio and Dave Durden on the men’s side.
Youth.
Results speak for themselves.
And both will have many athletes from Stanford and Cal in the teams.
I’m Bobo Gigi and I approve this message. 🙂
Yup.