Mike Bottom (c. 1956) is a former competitive swimmer at USC, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, and the ninth head coach of the

Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving The Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving teams represent the University of Michigan in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. The men's and women's teams, which had be ...

program at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 2008 to 2023.

Competitive swimming

Mike and his brother Joe swam for Northern California's renowned Santa Clara Swim Club under

George Haines George Frederick Haines (March 9, 1924 – May 1, 2006) was a competitive swimmer and coach who for twenty-three years coached the highly successful Santa Clara Swim Club which he founded in 1951. He later coached UCLA, Stanford University, ...

, and in College for the University of Southern California, under Coach Peter Daland. At the Santa Clara Swim Club Mike swam from the age of 14, and later played Water Polo for his Santa Clara High School Team. At USC, Mike was a five-time All-American and four-time USA National Team member. His swimming programs and coaches were considered exceptional in the swimming community.

Olympic swimming

Competing in the trials for the 100-meter butterfly, Bottom qualified for the U.S. Olympic swimming team for the Moscow 1980 Olympics, but America boycotted the Olympic Games that year. From 1980 to 1990, Bottom spent around 10 years outside of swimming, including positions with Pacific Bell in San Ramon, Calif., as a systems analyst (1984–90), and in San Francisco with Utah International, Inc., as an internal controls analyst (1982–84).

Coaching career

Bottom served as assistant coach for the swimming team at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

from 1991 until 1994, before serving as assistant coach for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

swimming team until 1997. From 1998 until 2007, he was men's co-head coach for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

swimming team. He was the personal coach for Gary Hall Jr., and later coached for

The Race Club The Race Club is a swimming club known for training Olympic Games swimmers with its swimming training program that is focused on specific swimming techniques, located in Islamorada, Florida. History The Race Club was founded in 2003 by Gary ...

, the elite competitive swimming program in Islamorada, Florida, founded in 2003 by Hall and his father Gary Hall Sr. Bottom worked for as a team coach in Vernier, Florida.

U of Michigan swim coach

In June 2008, it was announced that Bottom would take over from Bob Bowman as head coach of the

's swimming team. His Michigan men's team finished as champions at the 2013 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. Bottom was particularly skilled in the careful study and development of freestyle swimming and was best known for creating top freestyle sprinters like Gary Hall and

Anthony Ervin Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimming (sport), swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and e ...

. He gave a ground-breaking lecture about the three styles of freestyle in 2007, which had a great impact on future swimmers and coaches. He often brought passion to his coaching lectures, and added excitement to his meets at halftime by sometimes adding dancers, musical performances, and such inventions as halftime underwater kicking races. Though his winning record was ebbing when he announced his retirement from Michigan at end of season in May 2023, his contributions to the sport of swimming remain evident.

Olympic coach

He served as an Olympic coach in some unofficial capacity for every Olympics from 1996 to 2012, though was not an official coach until 2016. He was also a two-time head coach of the American men's team at the World University Games (2013, 2015), and was an assistant at the 2009 and 2013 World Championships.

Personal life

Bottom was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

. He graduated from the

in 1978 with a Bachelor's in psychology. In 1993, he graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' with a Master's degree in counselling psychology from Auburn University. His college majors likely helped him find the most effective methods of motivating and counselling his many swimmers to achieve and thrive. Gary Hall said in summary, "No coach, that I know of, has been as effective as Mike Bottom in tailoring approaches in coaching, sports psychology and motivation." Bottom and his wife Lauralyn have three daughters (Micaiah, Dublyn, and Breana).

References

External links

Michigan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottom, Mike Living people American male butterfly swimmers American swimming coaches Auburn University alumni Auburn Tigers swimming coaches California Golden Bears swimming coaches Michigan Wolverines swimming coaches Olympic swimmers for the United States USC Trojans men's swimmers USC Trojans swimming coaches Summer World University Games medalists in swimming Year of birth missing (living people) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the United States Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade 20th-century American sportsmen