Bob Bowman, who formerly coached Michael Phelps at Arizona State, has been named Director of Swimming and Diving and Head Men’s Coach at Texas.
AUSTIN, Texas— Bob Bowman (pronounced: BOH-man), a Hall of Famer who coached Michael Phelps for many years and transformed the Arizona State program into a National Champion over the last nine seasons, has been named Director of Swimming and Diving and Head Men’s Coach at The University of Texas, Vice President and Lois and Richard Folger Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced on Monday. Bowman inherits a Longhorn powerhouse program founded by the famous Eddie Reese, who retired this year after 46 seasons at Texas.
“When we began looking for the next head coach of our Swimming and Diving department, we realized it would be difficult and that we needed to find the very finest to continue our historic heritage as the nation’s premier program. We did just that with Bob Bowman, whose efforts to transform the Arizona State men’s team into a National Champion are absolutely historic and monumental,” Del Conte stated. “We knew Coach Bowman was the appropriate guy for the job from the first time we met with him about our fantastic opportunity. His program-building vision and leadership skills are unparalleled, and his passion and will to constantly perform at the top level shine through. In addition to his track record of developing swimmers,
That includes all of his many national winners and All-Americans, as well as his cherished pupil, Michael Phelps, who is probably the greatest swimmer and Olympian of all time. He excels at every aspect of his career, and we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have him join the Texas Athletics family. I’d want to thank Sarah Baumgartner (Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sports Administration) for coordinating this search and bringing Coach Bowman to Texas.”
Bowman joins Texas in the newly created role of Director of Swimming and Diving, in addition to serving as head men’s coach. Carol Capitani, UT’s head women’s coach, recently led the Longhorns Women’s Swimming and Diving team to its third consecutive NCAA Championship runner-up performance. She is entering her 13th season as head coach of the women’s program, having led the Longhorns to 12 Big 12 championships and 10 top-10 finishes in her first 12 years on campus.
“We’re thrilled to have Coach Bowman join the Texas Athletics family. This new job will result in significant synergy between our men’s and women’s programs,” Del Conte noted. “Coach Capitani is doing an incredible job as our women’s coach and she and Coach Bowman will help us continue to build on the tradition and outstanding success of our swimming and diving squads in the years to come.”
