Michigan sophomore Dylan Bosch put a big exclamation mark on the 2014 NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships by swimming a 1:39.33 in the 200 yard fly, which became the fastest swim of all-time.
It cleared a record that was co-held by Michael Phelps and Tom Shields in the event, and thrust Bosch into a new level of stardom in his native South Africa. South Africa, one might recall, is home to Chad le Clos: the man who did the unthinkable and conquered Michael Phelps, that same Michael Phelps, at the 2012 Olympics. Any time “200 butterflier” and “Michael Phelps” come up in the same sentence, South African fans elate at the memory.
With four of the top 10 swimmers in the 200 fly at NCAA’s being from South Africa (Michael Meyer, Sebastien Rousseau, Frank Greeff), they’ll have plenty to salivate about after this one.
Bosch discusses two really interesting topics. In the first, he discusses how his improvements underwater helped him save a lot of that classic leg burn on the last 25. Michigan coaches estimated that among 8 underwaters, Bosch went an extra 20 yards this season.
He also discussed his celebration that included doing a belly flop off of the backstroke bars. This may seem a little trivial, and even ostentatious, but Bosch talks about how Mike Bottom has his swimmers actually practice their celebrations. This is a topic more relating to the mental side of coaching, and Bottom is one of the masters of the ‘keep it loose’ style, as evidenced by this tactic. It both fits the lines of swimmers visualizing their success, as well as ensuring that they’re having fun and staying focused through big sets, which is kind of a hallmark tactic of Bottom – finding creative ways to keep his swimmers mentally engaged, even if that means breaking complete focus occasionally.
Dear Mike Bottom,
Please release a video of your swimmers practicing their victory celebrations.
Thank you,
The entire swimming world
P.S. You should totally add that as a Water Carnival event.
NO VIDEO.