Bottom Named Head Coach for Team USA at World University Games
11/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 17, 2014
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- On Monday (Nov. 17), USA Swimming announced its coaching staffs for three major international competitions in 2015, appointing Mike Bottom as head men's coach for Team USA at the World University Games. The Games will be held July 4-11 in Gwangju, South Korea.
This is Bottom's second stint with Team USA at the World University Games, having previously served as head men's coach at the 2013 Games in Kazan, Russia. Like in 2013, Bottom will have three of his former swimmers on Team USA's roster: Sean Ryan (2011-14), Michael Wynalda (2011-14) and Kyle Whitaker (2011-14). At that meet, Bottom mentored Ryan to a gold medal-winning performance in the 1,500-meter freestyle, while Wynalda won two medals on relays -- silver as part of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay and bronze as part of the 4x100-meter medley relay.
Bottom is in his seventh year at Michigan and his third as head swimming coach for both the men's and women's programs. From 2008-12, he was the head swimming coach for the men only, before the two programs combined beginning in 2012-13. During his tenure with the men, Bottom has led Michigan to one national championship (2013) and five Big Ten championships (2009, 11-14) while amassing a 55-3-1 dual-meet record. Last year, his second with the women, Bottom coached Michigan to a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten (its first top-five finish since 2010) and guided Courtney Beidler to a win in the 400-yard individual medley, the program's first individual conference champion in three years.
Both programs are off to great starts this season, with the men (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) ranked No. 2 and the women ranked No. 6 (5-2, 4-0 Big Ten) in the most-recent polls distributed by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). The swimmers will next be in action at the U.S. Winter National Championships, set to be held Dec. 3-6 in Greensboro, N.C.
Communications Contact: Brad Rudner (734) 763-4423
