Olympic gold medalist Michael Andrew is going to train at Arizona State University.
About five weeks after revealing that he was no longer going to be training with his dad and lifelong coach Peter Andrew, Andrew has finally unveiled that he will train with Arizona State and their new head coach Herbie Behm.
Arizona State are the defending men’s NCAA Champions, though the program has undergone a lot of changes – including Behm elevating to head coach to take over for Bob Bowman, who left for the University of Texas. Arizona State also joined the Big 12 Conference this season.
Behm was the program’s sprint coach last year, which makes him a logical fit for Andrew, who has been sprint-focused for most of his adult career.
While the Sun Devils lost a lot of talent in the shakeup, that which remains has performed exceedingly well so far this season, with sophomore Ilya Kharun being arguably the best swimmer in the NCAA through the first six weeks of the season.
Andrew mentions needing NCAA clearances, though he has clarified in the comment that he’s training in Tempe as a post grad, not as part of the NCAA team.
Andrew said that he initially considered commuting back-and-forth to Tempe from Costa Mesa, California, to train part-time with Arizona State, but ultimately decided that moving closer to Tempe was the best choice for his career. The drive from Costa Mesa to Tempe is about five-and-a-half hours.
“Trying to train myself leading up to the World Cups, I realized I cannot do it on my own. I need to be surrounded by guys that are pushing me, by splits that are keeping me accountable, and by, just accountability in terms of every day, the consistency, and the deliberation to it.
“I’ve been working very hard, but that ‘very hard,’ that effort, if it’s not kept in check…I had no idea what paces I’ve been holding for the last few months. It’s a bit of a weird one, and I think honestly a beautiful lesson for me to learn in this stage in the quad to know ‘hey, if I really want to do this, and I want to do this well, you gotta be there.'”
Andrew left the World Cup Series without much success, blaming several days of illness. He is part of the U.S. Team for December’s Short Course World Championships, scheduled to swim the 50 free and 100 breast individually.
He said that the 2024 US Olympic Trials was a feeling he “never ever wants to experience again in (his) life.”
See the full video on MA’s YouTube Channel below:
Peter Andrew has coached Michael since he was an age grouper in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where Peter was the coach of the Aberdeen Aquaholics, where the nuggets of the pair’s now-famous USRPT approach to training first developed while running continuous relay practices with young age groupers.
The family next moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where a two-lane pool that Peter built on the family’s property served as Andrew’s training ground until 2018. They then moved to Southern California, where they trained together out of various pools.
The two have become an iconic pair in swimming. While not the only parent-child coaching pair at the elite level of the sport, they had a rare combination where they were mostly training 1-on-1 or in small groups, and where Michael stayed with his dad instead of entering the NCAA system.
He says that he and his father still work together in clinics and as co-owners of the MA Swim Academy and in outreach for the USRPT programming. Michael says that he has anxiety about people perceiving that this move is him rejecting his family and USRPT, but that his father supports his decision.
He says that he’s most excited about the opportunities to lift consistently and train in a group of pros that are “at his level” and “pushing him day in and day out.”
Since becoming the youngest American to turn pro in swimming at age 13 in 2013, Andrew has had a storied career including one of the most-prolific age group record-setting runs the sport has ever seen, breaking records of behemoths of the sport like Michael Phelps.
Andrew’s career has included setting a World Record and winning Olympic gold as the breaststroke leg of the American men’s 400 medley relay at the Tokyo Olympics, 7 World Championship medals in long course, another 11 in short course, 4 World Junior Championship gold medals, and almost 100 medals on the Swimming World Cup tour. His 58.14 in the 100 breaststroke is the current American Record in the event.
His dad also served as the head coach, and his mom as the General Manager, of the New York Breakers team of the International Swimming League.
Michael Andrew didn’t qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Team. At the U.S. Trials, he finished 5th in the 50 free (21.81), 8th in the 100 breast (1:00.11 after a semis 59.65), and 16th in the 100 fly (52.98). All times were significantly slower than his bests.
Who will have greater success? Bob Bowman resurrecting Lydia Jacoby’s international career or Herbie Behm resurrecting Michael Andrew’s international career.
Would love to see a 150M IM, Michael would be the World Record holder.
It’s funny to read comments and see people talk about him finally reaching his potential and finally swimming for himself. Dude is an Olympian. Has broken several records over the years. And seems to have a healthy relationship with his family, even if it’s different from others. Does he have a lot more in him in terms of more Olympic teams and more prestigious records? Maybe. Has he peaked? Maybe. He did it different that others. Would he have done more if he came up through traditional club and college training? Maybe. But going that route may also have trained the greatness out of him. Happy for him to have the confidence to make this change and generally wish him… Read more »
I agree that this is a good fit. it will take time and patience but MA will definitely make improvements under Salo and Behm…not to mention that swimming along side other talented swimmers might just be the spark he needed
why is he so splits focused? hope Herbie knows how to time his splits correctly.
Rumors were true
https://swimswam.com/8-andrew-maksymowski-verbals-to-longhorns-gives-texas-its-3rd-top-10-recruit-in-class-of-26/#comment-1476812
Man as a MA Fan, I applaud the move for many reasons. A change of scenery, a great group of training partners, great coaching and an exciting environment = Strong likelihood of massive success! Best wishes to Michael AND Herbie Behm.
I feel like we should be commending him for this choice. He did the hard thing, including moving away from home for the first time and moving away from his girlfriend.
The easy, obvious thing would’ve been to just train with Jeff Julian or (g*d forbid) BH, but he didn’t do it.
Sounds like therapy has given him some clarity and hopefully we’ll see him thinking and living for himself (rather than his parents/family) more and more every day.