Women's Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 647-0500
Honors & Accomplishments
• Led Michigan to one NCAA title (men: 2013), 12 Big Ten titles (men: 2009, 2011-16, 2020, 2021; women: 2016-18) and 11 top-10 NCAA finishes (men: 2009-15, 2018; women: 2016, 2018-19)
• Nine-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (Men: 2011-15, 2020, 2021; Women: 2018-19) and 2013 CSCAA Swimming Coach of the Year
• Has coached nine national champions (eight individual, one relay), 140 Big Ten individual or relay champions and 51 CSCAA All-Americans
• Coached at the last six Olympics; served as assistant coach for Team USA at the 2016 Games in Rio
Coaching Experience
• University of Michigan -- Head Coach, Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving (2013-Present)
• University of Michigan -- Head Coach, Men's Swimming and Diving (2008-12)
• University of California-Berkeley -- Co-Head Coach, Men's Swimming and Diving (1997-2008)
• University of Southern California -- Assistant Coach, Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving (1994-97)
• Auburn University -- Assistant Coach, Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving (1991-94)
• Olympics (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
• World University Games (USA, Head Coach: 2013, 2015)
• FINA World Championships (USA, Assistant Coach: 2009, 2013; Yemen, Head Coach: 2017)
Education
• B.S., Psychology, University of Southern California (1978)
• M.S., Counseling Psychology, Auburn University (1993)
• Completed course work for Ph.D. in sport psychology
At Michigan
Bottom recently concluded his 15th year at Michigan, the last 11 coming as the head coach of both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams.
In his 15 years at the helm of the men's team, Bottom is 111-13-1 in dual meets (67-9 in the Big Ten) with one NCAA title (2013), nine Big Ten titles (2009, 2011-16, 2020-21) and eight top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including a run of four years in the top five from 2012-15. He is a six-time Big Ten Men's Swimming Coach of the Year (2011-15, 2020) and was named CSCAA Swimming Coach of the Year in 2013. During his tenure, Bottom has coached the men's swimmers to a total of nine national titles (eight individual, one relay), and has produced 115 Big Ten individual, relay or diving titles and 63 CSCAA All-Americans. In Bottom's time in Ann Arbor, a Michigan swimmer has been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year eleven times: Tyler Clary (2009-10), Dan Madwed (2012), Connor Jaeger (2013-14), Dylan Bosch (2015), Felix Auböck (2017, 2020) and Maggie MacNeil (2020-22).
In 11 years of overseeing the women's team, Bottom quickly rebuilt the program from the ground up. After posting a combined 11-9 record in his first two seasons, Michigan rattled off eight consecutive years in which it lost just a combined five races. U-M won three consecutive Big Ten titles from 2016-18 -- the program's first three-peat since 1996-98. Under Bottom, the women's team is 74-19 in dual meets (49-9 in the Big Ten), and jumped 26 spots at the NCAA Championships in just three years (36th in 2013 to 10th in 2016). All 18 short course (yards) swimming records have gone down since Bottom took over, including 15 since the start of the 2018 season. In his ten years with the women's team, Bottom has coached 31 CSCAA All-Americans (individual) and 48 Big Ten individual or relay champions. He is a two-time Big Ten Women's Swimming Coach of the Year (2018, 2019).
The men's and women's swimming and diving teams have also excelled in the classroom under Bottom's watch. For the 2019-20 year, 55 swimmers and divers (73 percent of the roster) earned the U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award, an honor that requires a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Of those 55, 39 were Academic All-Big Ten. In 12 years, Bottom has coached five Academic All-Americans (PJ Ransford in 2016 and 2017, Justin Glanda and Richard Funk in 2015, Courtney Beidler in 2014, Connor Jaeger in both 2013 and 2014) and five Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients (Siobhan Haughey in 2019, PJ Ransford in 2018, Justin Glanda in 2015, John Wojciechowski in 2014, Dan Madwed in 2012).
International Experience
Bottom has over two decades of international coaching experience and has coached athletes at the last six Olympics, including a stint as assistant coach for Team USA at the 2016 Games in Rio. Several current and former student-athletes achieved their Olympic dreams under Bottom's guidance at Michigan, including medalists Tyler Clary (2012; USA), Connor Jaeger (2012, 2016; USA) and Charlie Houchin (2012; USA), while also supervising Dylan Bosch (2016; South Africa), Anders Lie Nielsen (2012, 2016; Denmark) and brothers Miguel Ortiz and Bruno Ortiz (2016; Spain). Among Bottom's non-Michigan Olympics include 10-time Olympic medalist Gary Hall Jr. (USA), a 10-time Olympic medalist; Duje Draganja (Croatia), the silver medalist in the 50-meter freestyle in 2004; and Anthony Ervin (USA), a gold medalist in the 50-meter freestyle in both 2000 and 2016. In the three Olympics from 1996-2004, nine of the 18 medals awarded in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles were won by Bottom's swimmers.
In addition to his Olympic résumé, Bottom has twice served as head men's swimming coach at the World University Games (2013, 2015). He's also been an assistant coach at two FINA World Championships (2009, 2013) and coached Mokhtar Al-Yamani (Yemen) at the 2017 FINA World Championships.
Prior To Michigan
Bottom spent 10 seasons (1997-2007) at California, serving as co-head coach of the men's team alongside Thornton. Prior to moving to Cal, he spent four years as the Southern California men's and women's assistant coach (1994-97), helping the women's team to its first NCAA championship in 1997. Bottom began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant with the Auburn men's and women's squads, coaching with David Marsh for four seasons (1991-94). Outside the collegiate ranks, Bottom spent nearly a decade with The Race Club in Tavernier, Fla., serving as head coach of the World Team, its elite level training group.
Following the 1980 Olympic boycott, Bottom spent 10 years in the business world, including positions with Pacific Bell in San Ramon, Calif., as a systems analyst (1984-90), and with Utah International, Inc., in San Francisco as an internal controls analyst (1982-84).
Since 1987, Bottom has directed BottomLine Aquatics, a start-up company dedicated to promoting health and growth in individuals of all ages. Initiatives range from after-school care programs for children ages 4-11, fundraisers, and instructional classes for beginners to elite level swimmers.
Swimming Career
Bottom swam collegiately at the University of Southern California (1975-77) where he won an NCAA title as part of the 400-yard medley relay team in 1976. He was a five-time All-American and four-time USA National Team member. Bottom earned a spot on the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that did not compete due to a boycott.
Personal
Bottom is a charter member of the American College Counseling Association, a member of the American Counseling Association, the American Swim Coaches Association and College Swim Coaches Association of America. He is also certified by the National Board of Certified Counselors.
Bottom and his wife, Lauralyn, have three daughters: Dublyn, Macaiah and Breana.
Coaching Record at Michigan
| Season | Overall Record | Big Ten Record | Big Ten Finish | Big Ten Champions | NCAA Finish | NCAA Champions |
| 2008-09 (M) | 8-1 | 5-0 | 1st | 13 | 7th | 2 |
| 2009-10 (M) | 7-0 | 5-0 | 2nd | 10 | 7th | 1 |
| 2010-11 (M) | 8-2-1 | 5-1 | 1st | 11 | 9th | 0 |
| 2011-12 (M) | 9-0 | 4-0 | 1st | 11 | 5th | 0 |
| 2012-13 (M) | 8-0 | 6-0 | 1st | 12 | 1st | 3 |
| 2013-14 (M) | 9-0 | 6-0 | 1st | 11 | 4th | 2 |
| 2014-15 (M) | 10-0 | 6-0 | 1st | 11 | 3rd | 0 |
| 2015-16 (M) | 11-0 | 6-0 | 1st | 9 | 12th | 0 |
| 2016-17 (M) | 5-1 | 3-1 | T-2nd | 4 | 17th | 0 |
| 2017-18 (M) | 8-1 | 5-1 | 2nd | 4 | 8th | 0 |
| 2018-19 (M) | 7-1 | 4-1 | 2nd | 5 | 13th | 1 |
| 2019-20 (M) | 6-1 | 4-1 | 1st | 7 | N/A* | -- |
| 2020-21 (M) | 2-1 | 2-1 | 1st | 3 | 12th | 0 |
| 2021-22 (M) | 6-1 | 3-1 | 3rd | 2 | 22nd | 0 |
| 2022-23 (M) | 7-4 | 2-2 | 3rd | 2 | 20th | 0 |
| Totals | 111-13-1 | 67-9 | -- | 115 | -- | 8 |
| 2012-13 (W) | 5-4 | 4-2 | 6th | 0 | 36th | 0 |
| 2013-14 (W) | 6-5 | 3-4 | 5th | 1 | 30th | 0 |
| 2014-15 (W) | 9-2 | 7-0 | 3rd | 1 | 22nd | 0 |
| 2015-16 (W) | 8-1 | 6-0 | 1st | 7 | 10th | 0 |
| 2016-17 (W) | 5-1 | 4-0 | 1st | 4 | 11th | 0 |
| 2017-18 (W) | 10-0 | 7-0 | 1st | 6 | 4th | 0 |
| 2018-19 (W) | 8-0 | 5-0 | 2nd | 7 | 3rd | 0 |
| 2019-20 (W) | 6-0 | 4-0 | 2nd | 8 | N/A* | -- |
| 2020-21 (W) | 4-0 | 4-0 | 2nd | 7 | 6th | 2 |
| 2021-22 (W) | 6-1 | 3-1 | 2nd | 6 | 7th | 0 |
| 2022-23 (W) | 7-5 | 2-2 | 3rd | 1 | 23rd | 0 |
| Totals | 74-19 | 49-9 | -- | 47 | -- | 2 |
* The 2020 NCAA Championships were canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
