One of the most underrated things about becoming a champion in your...
Bob Bowman@coach_bowman
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Oct 20, 2026
~1 min read
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One of the most underrated things about becoming a champion in your own life is how close the breakthrough usually is when you're ready to quit.
I learned that at Michigan, and I almost didn't stay long enough to see it. 🧵
I learned that at Michigan, and I almost didn't stay long enough to see it. 🧵
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When I went to Michigan in 2004, I knew nothing about college coaching.
I put all this stuff into place, we were working hard, and after two years we weren't getting any better. I was starting to think, well, maybe this college thing isn't going to work for me.
I put all this stuff into place, we were working hard, and after two years we weren't getting any better. I was starting to think, well, maybe this college thing isn't going to work for me.
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Then all of my Olympic swimmers graduated.
We were left with a team everybody thought would finish fourth or fifth in our conference, which is unheard of for Michigan.
We were left with a team everybody thought would finish fourth or fifth in our conference, which is unheard of for Michigan.
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So that third year we decided to regroup and refresh everything.
We went to the conference meet and they were on fire. After the first session the guys came back for lunch and it was like a light bulb came on. We can do this.
We went to the conference meet and they were on fire. After the first session the guys came back for lunch and it was like a light bulb came on. We can do this.
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We fought our way through the whole meet, got to the very last event with a chance to win, and lost by four points.
It was heartbreaking. We were all just crushed.
It was heartbreaking. We were all just crushed.
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But I could look in their eyes, and I said, I promise you, if you stay with me next year, it's going to be a different feeling at the end of this meet.
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One year later we won it by the biggest point total ever. I think it was about 300 points.
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Everything we'd been struggling to put into place for three years showed up in that one season, right about when I'd started to wonder if it ever would.
So if you're two years into something and it doesn't look any better yet, give it one more year before you decide.
So if you're two years into something and it doesn't look any better yet, give it one more year before you decide.
