Michael Phelps won 23 Olympic gold medals, and I don't think he...
Bob Bowman@coach_bowman
10 views
Nov 05, 2026
~1 min read
Advertisement
1
Michael Phelps won 23 Olympic gold medals, and I don't think he ever got out of the pool satisfied.
Including the last individual gold he ever won. 🧵
Including the last individual gold he ever won. 🧵
2
That last one was Rio, 2016, the 200 IM. He got out and we both had the same two notes: push the second 50 harder, and fix the setup into the breaststroke.
A little more and it's a world record. He still wasn't happy.
A little more and it's a world record. He still wasn't happy.
3
In Beijing he won the 100 fly by a hundredth of a second. Afterward I told him that if he'd been a tenth faster at the 50, it wouldn't have been that close.
He'd just won a gold medal, and we were talking about what he did wrong.
He'd just won a gold medal, and we were talking about what he did wrong.
4
After about ten years together, I barely had to coach him after a race.
He'd get out, walk over and tell me everything that went wrong, usually before I opened my mouth. Most of the time we'd picked the same two things.
He'd get out, walk over and tell me everything that went wrong, usually before I opened my mouth. Most of the time we'd picked the same two things.
5
The better he got, the smaller the mistakes were, and the more they bothered him.
That's what separates a champion. Nobody held Michael to a higher standard than he held himself, and it's why he kept winning gold medals.
This was the best to ever do it.
That's what separates a champion. Nobody held Michael to a higher standard than he held himself, and it's why he kept winning gold medals.
This was the best to ever do it.
