After coaching the legendary Michael Phelps to 22 medals during the last three Olympics, coach Bob Bowman is set for a new challenge: creating a competitive national swim team for a country that has 22 fewer medals in the sport than Phelps.
Bowman has signed on to consult the Turkish national team through the Rio Games and 2020 Games; a job that includes evaluating 200,000 talented youths, selecting swimmers, and creating successful strategies to develop swimmers according Turkey’s Youth and Sports Ministry told the Associated Press Tuesday.
The hiring comes on the heels of sponsorship deal with the country’s leading cell phone company, Turcell, which aims to help develop athletes in major Olympic events such as swimming and track and field. And no, it’s no coincidence that Istanbul is a finalist to host the 2020 Olympics in a vote this September in Buenos Aires.
