Edrick Floréal, Bob Bowman ecstatic over the Texas Longhorns’ dominating show at Olympics
Longhorns won 16 gold medals in Paris, which would have tied for 14th among all nations
Football is centerstage heading into the fall. But earlier this summer, Texas Longhorns were dominating on a global stage as former and current athletes piled up 16 medals, including six golds.
“It was just the Texas show, if you want to call it that,” UT track coach Edrick Floréal said Monday. It certainly was.
If the University of Texas had been its own country, the Longhorns would have ranked 16th overall among all nations in total medals and tied for 14th in golds. In school history, UT athletes representing 38 countries have now won 98 gold medals, 53 silvers and 27 bronze.
Floréal and new men’s swimming coach Bob Bowman met with reporters to discuss what they saw and preview their respective seasons. But their eyes were still glazed over in amazement over what happened in Paris on the track and in the pool.
“In every event there was somebody we’d coached, developed, somebody that we would recruit from some other school, blah, blah, blah,” Floréal said. “So it was just cool for me to know that the decisions that are made from some of these young people weren’t bad. They were good decisions. You know, they were good decisions leading them up to being the very best they can at the grandest stage possible.”
Bowman, who trained Michael Phelps and French superstar Leon Marchand and was hired at UT in April, said the impact was immeasurable.
“Have a lot less friends now, but that comes with territory,” Bowman joked. “I think a lot more people are interested in coming here and training. They know that it's the best place to be. It's going to be the epicenter of swimming, we hope, in very short time.”
Floréal watched as three-time NCAA indoor sprint champion Julien Alfred won the 100 meters in 10.72 seconds for Jamaica, crowning her the fastest woman alive. She also finished second in the 200 meters in 22.08. Now, the first suggested question on Google is “Where does Julien Alfred go to college?”
Tara Davis-Woodhall, another Floréal pupil, won gold in the long jump at 7.10 meters. Leo Neugebauer won silver in the decathlon. Texas ex Ryan Crouser defended his shot put title with a throw of 22.9 meters.
“You put the pieces together, and you always hope and pray it comes together,” Floréal said. “But when it does to that magnitude is huge. Is almost like fulfilling, sort of the mission. you make promises to young people, we all do, every coach does, but to watch these promises come to fruition is huge.”
Floréal said he couldn’t believe how Alfred took a couple of days off and then went back to training. “You really never have a chance to take a breath,” he said. “If you do, then you find yourself getting dusted by somebody else. So just have to kind of keep the pedal to the metal as long as you can, because if you do, who knows what's going to happen.”
Bowman may be new to UT, but he’s already a legend in the swimming world. He watched as UT’s Hubert Kos won a gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke at 1:54.26. Carson Foster, Luke Hobson and Drew Kibler were part of the silver-winning 4×200 freestyle relay team. Erin Gemmell won silver as part of the 4×200 freestyle women’s relay.
His Olympic duties now complete, Bowman said he’s totally focused on UT swimming. The Horns had their first team meeting on Monday. Bowman’s goal is simple — lift UT back to the podium and win the NCAA national title.
“The main thing I look for is someone who wants to improve, someone who’s not complacent where they are, even if they're one of the best junior swimmers in the world,” Bowman said. “We want somebody who wants to come here and has definite goals about getting better and wants a way to get that done.
“That’s what we offer — the plan, the system and the environment where they can go as far as their ability will take them. So that’s my main characteristic. Do they want to get better?”
