This week’s conversation is with Hall of Fame swimming coach Bob Bowman, the maestro behind the illustrious career of Michael Phelps.

He’s now the Head Coach for the Men’s and Women’s programs at Arizona State University.

He is a four-time member of the U.S. Olympic Team staff, including Head Coach of the Men’s team at Rio 2016.

He has guided swimmers to 38 Olympic medals, including 21 individual medals and 19 individual gold medals, and 43 World Records over the course of his illustrious career.

Bob comes from a family of teachers and that’s how he views himself: a teacher.

He has experienced an incredible amount of success, but it is all about the process for him.

When it comes to the process, Bob has four phases to his model: discovery, imagination, challenge, and high performance.

This conversation has it all.

We cover the common traits of high performers, how he gets the most out of his swimmers, and Bob shares some fantastic stories about his experiences coaching Olympians Michael Phelps, Allison Schmitt, and others.

Bob has been by the side of the greatest swimmer to ever do it for 20 years. I can’t wait for you to learn from him in this conversation.

“What drives me is pushing the limits of what’s possible.”

In This Episode:

  • Coming from a teaching family growing up
  • The four phases of his model: discovery, imagination, challenge, and high performance
  • Process vs outcome.
  • The dream goal vs. main goals vs. immediate goals
  • The moment Michael Phelps decided he wanted to be the best ever
  • Being your best vs being better than others
  • Creating challenging environments in practice so they are ready for big events
  • How he trains mental toughness
  • Combining technical, intensity, and mindset into his formula for training
  • Importance of relationship based coaching
  • Why honesty is at the center on how he enhances his relationships with players
  • The most challenging time he faced with Michael Phelps
  • The keys to raising high performing children
  • Pre-performance routines
  • The hyper-awareness of high performers
  • What is the common thread between high performers?
  • Helping Alison Schmidt work through imposter syndrome / depression
  • His methods for helping athletes recovery better
  • Michael Phelps visualizing techniques
  • What he would ask another master: how do they spend their time?

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