Club Wolverine Meet, Friends Swimming and Mike Bottom

May
31

Club Wolverine Meet, Friends Swimming and Mike Bottom

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 4:56am (May 31st, 2009)
I had the privilege of watching my friends David Hoydic and Derek Weaver, two fellow Masters swimmers compete in the Club Wolverine Spring Meet. Dave swam the 50 and 100 Freestyle and Derek Weaver swam the 100 Backstroke.

Both guys swam well, especially for not having been able to train Long Course. I got all three swims on video and got some pretty good pictures at the same time as well. It was quite the setup, digital camera in one hand, camcorder in the other... must have been an interesting sight

I met some of the swimmers on the Monroe club swimming team as well and got some pictures of their swimmers. One in particular, Kirstin, was also a blackbelt in Karate, that's some interesting cross training!

I had a chance to speak with Mike Bottom, the current Head Coach of U of M swimming. Mike Bottom has a long list of credentials, including coaching multiple Gold Medal winning athletes. He was a member of the 1980 Olympic Swim Team and coached at Cal as well as the Race Club. He coached Gary Hall Jr. and Duje Draganja as well as Anthony Ervin. We briefly discussed the meet and my summer training. Coach Bottom also introduced me to the head trainer. We caught up on what I was up to and how I was handling the balance of competitive swimming and working. I let him know I was considering swimming in the World Champ Trials this summer as well as the Masters Long Course Nationals. He mentioned I would be welcome to train with their workout group at U of M if I would like. It was an honor to be invited to swim with a training group of that caliber. I also inquired about the workout times, which as it turns out, might work even better with my schedule. I'll discuss it further with him sometime soon.

Overall it was a great day cheering on friends and making new connections in the swimming world! I love this sport...