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Mike Bottom |
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It’s hard to believe that the FINA World Masters Championships are just around the corner in Palo Alto. The Bay Area is one of my most favorite places on the planet. Mary and I lived there for a little over 15 years and we have many wonderful memories and connections to the swimming community there. Since we are bumping up our
training this month, I thought we could all use a little bit of
inspiration of “Olympic Proportion” once again. This month's contributor
is Mike Bottom, who sends us greetings from the Bay Area and a special
"sprint training" workout for our group! An accomplished athlete
himself (1980 USA Olympic Team) and coach of the No. 2 ranked University
of California men's swim team (Go BEARS!), Mike has distinguished himself
as one of the foremost While all of that is very impressive, I treasure Mike as a close friend who has been with me through many of life’s most incredible adventures! Enjoy his greeting to our team – but most of all – get ready for the work! At MTSC, it’s “performance … not pageantry”! Here are some photos that were taken when Mike and Ron launched Bottomline Aquatics back in the late '80s (Webmistress note: THAT explains the "fashions") at a Christmas event that included a $10,000 "Dash for Cash" with the three fastest men in the WORLD at the time, swimming a 25 yard free for the cash!
Let's hear from Mike: Dear Ron, Can’t wait to see you this summer in NO.CAL! Sounds like your MTSC Masters are really motivated this year. Right now is a good time to be preparing … so train those guys well and we’ll look forward to some fast swims in August! If you remember the most fun
that you had in the water when you were a kid, it was the times you raced
your friend, mom, dad, brother from here to there -- and maybe even back!
The race--the feeling of your body moving through the water fast!
The excitement of beating someone! Come on out to California and
re-live the excitement. Then go to the city and view the San
Francisco Bay or the Golden Gate, have a drink, watch the sun set into
the Pacific, or come over and visit us here at Cal. Life is
good!
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sprint coaches in the world. He coaches several Olympic sprinters from
all over the world. Remember the phenomenal tie in the 50 Freestyle in
the 2000 Sydney Olympics? Mike coached both Gary Hall Jr. and Anthony
Ervin. What a great honor for a coach, and a great outcome for two
incredible athletes in which he invested a lot of blood, sweat and
tears!
