Grieving Michael Phelps Shares Past Glimpses With Swimming Legend Jon Urbanchek After His Death

At the University of Michigan, Michael Phelps stepped in following childhood coach Bob Bowman as the latter took up the coaching job there. However, little did he know that this shift would remain the memorable one in his career! In his 2004-2008 stint in the Ann-Arbor, the most decorated Olympian imbibed many things, including scientific training lessons from the legendary coach Jon Urbanchek. Now, after Jon Urbanchek’s demise, Michael Phelps has reminisced several memories that once made him complete as a swimmer. 

Recently, in his IG story, Michael Phelps added several snaps of Jon Urbanchek from his leisure time and mostly from the swimming camps Phelps had shared with him. While the late swimming coach could be seen in his natural mood in those shared visuals, the Baltimore Bullet could only take a stroll down memory lane through those snaps when he had used to be the prominent face of Club Wolverine. In one such snap, he penned, “rest in peace buddy…” to pay his homage to Jon Urbanchek. Meanwhile, in one of the shared snippets in Phelps’ IG story, the Hall of Famer coach could be seen dancing around beside the pool with electronic gadgets in his hands. 

Michael Phelps captioned that snippet with, “Urbs being urbs[emoji]”. Notably, it was one of the stunning parts that kept Urbanchek standing tall among his contemporary coaches. As per the description, the late coach used his engineering experience to document the swimming results of the pupils. Eventually, his annual notebook with all those details worked wonders.

Such perfection later flowed in Bob Bowman during his tenure at the University of Michigan. Jon Urbanchek is hailed being one of the dominant faces to apply such a method of swimming coaching. Michael Phelps remembers those encounters for sure! Apart from that, Jon Urbanchek made a mark in Michael Phelps’ Olympic success as well. A thorough success at the college level elevated him to the position of national swimming coach and it panned out to be a fairy tale. 

Michael Phelps has a humongous success under Jon Urbanchek’s coaching 

After being introduced to Jon Urbanchek’s coaching style in Michigan, Michael Phelps shook off his Sydney Olympic failure, only to craft new parables on swimming history. Urbanchek played the role of the assistant coach in the 2004 Athens Olympics, whereas on 2008 and 2012 occasions, he remained the special assistant coach.

Under his mentorship, Michael Phelps bagged a whooping 18 Olympic gold medals, including the 8-gold medal record in the Beijing Olympics. Furthermore, he registered several world records in the meantime. But apart from this, Jon Urbanchek taught his fellow students a few more things that still reverberate. 

Talking about that part, Bob Bowman, Phelps’ former coach and Jon Urbanchek’s successor in Michigan camp, spilled several words. While praising the deceased coach’s scientific temperament, Bob spoke about the humanity Jon had used to inspire among the swimmers. “He [Jon Urbanchek] embodied patience, humility and love for everyone he met. He has had an immeasurable influence on my life and on countless others,” Bob Bowman recollected. May Jon Urbanchek’s soul rest in peace!