Yannick Agnel, French Olympic Swim Star, NBAC Athlete (Photo Credit: Victor Puig, victorpuig.com)
Bob Bowman’s North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) may be the greatest swim club ever assembled. NBAC elite swimmers include; 3-time Olympic medalist Yannick Agnel, Olympic Gold medalist Conor Dwyer, pool and open water Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Matt McLean, 6-time Olympic medalist Allison Schmitt, US Butterfly National Champion Tom Luchsinger, open water and pool elite Becca Mann, Olympic medalist and World Champion Lotte Friis, NCAA Champion and World Medalist Chase Kalisz, US National Champion Gillian Ryan, Junior Worlds gold medalist Cierra Runge, paralympic swim star Jessica Long, and Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer of all time (if he officially comes back).
Over the next two and half years, as we approach the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, whether or not NBAC is the greatest swim team (club team, not an NGB team) will be determined. Among the US super clubs, SwimMAC is extremely formiddable as is David Salo’s crew at Trojan Aquatic Club.
If you had to predict which club will put the most athletes on Olympic Teams, which would it be?
You can follow Coach Bob Bowman on Twitter here.
This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com.
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ahh so that is why none of the NBAC swimmers were at the Orlando Grand Prix. Good post by Gold Medal Mel
It seems they lack a sprint group. Kind of pre-mature to call them the greatest group ever? Unless thats based solely on medal count. Great place if you swim the 200 and above though.
That’s somewhat true. I have a feeling Agnel (French) and Dwyer (US) will make the 4×100 free relay in 2016. They both have 100 speed…. You’re right, though. They’ll train 200-400, and simply pop fast 100s, not neccessarily b/c they train for them. (NOTE: The more I hear about Bob’s sets, the more it sounds like he does a lot of speed work. Something I’d like to learn more about as perception is that he’s just crushing his swimmers with high-intensity mid-distance work.) Of course SwimMAC/David Marsh is the sprint pro team (super club). Coach Marsh put 5 on the 2012 US OG Team, many of which I thought were on the bubble before hand. (2nd NOTE: Phelps? If Phelps… Read more »
not sure greatest unless he developed them? It will be hard to beat Santa Clara in the heyday or Mission Viejo??
Even accounting for time inflation(deflation?) this NBAC squad is pretty close to if not on Santa Clara’s 1960s/70s level. Very cool stuff. Anybody else remember the 90s when the entire travel squad for NBAC wore ‘Phelps’ on their caps? They used to come out to meets like LC Far Westerns held at Santa Clara. Looking back it seems like even then Michael’s future was being thoughtfully planned for. And this current super-team is still part of that plan. He’ll be back.
Please define the parameters you use when discussing a coach who “develops” a swimmer. What is the age range/ability level they need to being coaching the swimmer for it to “count” as development?
Does it matter if he developed them the whole way? That never happens in other sports. Players switch coaches every time they take a step up in the world and even after they reach the top, they tend to move around some. That’s just the world of sports.
But you have to understand, this is swimming, where coaches get super offended when a swimmer leaves their clutches and wants credit for “development.” Apparently, taking a 1:39 200 freestyler and making them 1:35 doesn’t count as development, nor does taking a Olympic Gold Medalist and making him faster. That stage of development deserves no credit to some, although none can articulate why.
I’d you don’t have them on your roster upon leaving the womb, you didn’t do crap…
It only counts if you coach them 6 days a week from swim lessons to middle age.
I would love to see a dual meet between NBAC and SwimMac Team Elite.
NBAC
SwimMAC
Cal Bears post Grads
Stanford post Grads
Michigan post Grads
Trojan post Grads
Tx post Grads
etc (as there are more pro clubs out there and around the world)
Seems to me, these teams are enough to launch a pro league. Why not? It could be fun. It could start off as a way for post grads to get race ready with one-day meets under 3 hours. They could travel to each others pools and do training camps the week before to breakup training… There are too many reasons (ways) to make this work. The season: Feb 1 to the end of March to mirror the college conference/NCAA champ season.
Along with New York athletic club.
That’s right! NYAC is building a great pro team….
NYAC with an impressive meet at Metropolitan SC Champs
http://bgnwmarlins.usswim.net/Results/2014/Senior-Mets-Winter/Championships.htm
I wish the N.Y.A.C the best. But looking at the Metropolitan Senior Mets (SCY) meet results one can clearly see that the Metro young talent still out swim the older swimmers. With the New York State High School Championship taking place only days after the Senior Mets the 16 and 17 yr olds swam incredibly well, even in events that are not their best.
Conaton, Plaschka & Cono went on to take the State High School meet and records by storm. Each swam and became New York State Champions and record holders. Well done!
Conaton heads off to Stanford, Plaschka to Notre Dame and Cono to the “Wolfpack” at North Carolina State. Go Pack!!
Additional talent from Metro’s 18 & under, Lozano, Lin and Hall. I reserve the right to add to the list.
Could be fun to watch Marseille come along, or one of the Brazilian teams where there’s WAY more emphasis on team scoring.
Brazil have 3 big teams who could cause some internacional impact (Corinthians, Pinheiros and Minas) each one of them being oriented toward a specific formation.. while there are swimmers who are not afiliated with them and are World Class swimmers (Thiago Pereira, e.g.)
Especially if Phelps comes back. Then you have the Lochte vs. Phelps all over again!!
RE: Mac sprinters vs. NBAC middle-distance – I think this is part of what is going to make a pro league work. Swimmers getting outside of their comfort zones a little, going after different races. See who’s a better 50 freestyler in-season: Ryan Lochte or Michael Phelps. I spend a lot of time thinking about pro leagues, and I think they work best if the format forces people to swim ‘different’ events. I think that’s what will create parity and what will create excitement, and most importantly what will create interest and conversation among the fans. It will help kill off the “this doesn’t matter because it’s not the Olympics” attitude.