Bowe Becker is a swim coach and former American professional swimmer. He won an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

as part of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, swimming in the prelims and the final.Krajewski, Jim (July 26, 2021)
"NBC Nightly News to feature Reno's Becker after winning gold with US Men's swim relay team"
''

Reno Gazette Journal The ''Reno Gazette Journal'' is the main daily newspaper for Reno, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. It came into being when the ''Nevada State Journal'' (founded on November 23, 1870) and the ''Reno Evening Gazette'' (foun ...

''. Retrieved July 26, 2021. He swims in the

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

on the team

Tokyo Frog Kings The Tokyo Frog Kings is a team in the International Swimming League (ISL) established in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the 2020 ISL competition which limited the teams including 2020 expansion teams Tokyo Frog Kings and Toronto Titans to ...

Early life and education

Becker graduated from

Faith Lutheran High School Faith Lutheran High School, commonly referred to as Faith or FLHS, was a private high school located in Crystal Lake, Illinois. It was affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and served students of McHenry County, Illinois. The sch ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Career

2019 NCAA Championships

At the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in March, Becker placed second in the 100-yard freestyle representing the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

with a time of 40.83 seconds as a senior, finishing three hundredths of a second behind

Dean Farris Dean Farris (born November 14, 1997) is the American record holder in the 200 yard freestyle. He won the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships titles in the 100 yard backstroke and 100 yard freestyle. At the 2019 World University Games he won t ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

.Anderson, Jared (March 30, 2019)
"2019 Men's NCAA Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

''. Retrieved October 18, 2021.Ross, Andy (March 30, 2019)
"2019 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming Championships: Texas Wins Three Events, Cal Wins Team Title"
''

Swimming World ''Swimming World'' is a US-based monthly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'', (known ...

''. Retrieved October 18, 2021. His swim moved him to the fourth fastest performer in the event in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

behind

Caeleb Dressel Caeleb Remel Dressel (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won ...

of the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

, Vladimir Morozov of the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

, and Farris.

2020: First retirement

Becker took a six month retirement from swimming in 2020 in part due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and instead chose to wait tables at a lodge in Reno, Nevada.Forde, Pat (July 26, 2021)
"U.S. Swimmer Bowe Becker Goes From Retired and Waiting Tables to Olympic Gold"
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. Retrieved July 26, 2021.

2021

2020 US Olympic Trials

Becker placed fifth in the 100-meter freestyle at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials with a time of 48.22, which qualified him for the

2020 Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021. In the final of the 50-meter freestyle on June 20, he swam a 21.78 and ranked fourth overall, finishing five hundredths of a second after third place finisher

Nathan Adrian Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian (born December 7, 1988) is an American competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held the American record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event. In his Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer O ...

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overal ...

(June 20, 2021)
"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved August 4, 2021.

2020 Summer Olympics

Becker raced in the prelims of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

alongside

Zach Apple Zachary "Zach" Douglas Apple (born April 23, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in the sprint freestyle events. He currently swims for DC Trident in the International Swimming League. He won his first Olympic gold medal in t ...

Brooks Curry Brooks Curry (born January 22, 2001) is an American competitive swimmer. He is an Olympian and a gold medalist in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2022 NCAA Championships, he won the NCAA title in the 50- ...

, and

Blake Pieroni Blake John Pieroni (born November 15, 1995) is a three-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming. He is a two time Olympian and gold medalist in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at both the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics. On th ...

, finishing second overall and advancing to the final."Bowe Becker Wins Gold in Tokyo"
''

''. July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021. In the final,

substituted in for Curry and the relay finished first with a time of 3:08.97 and won the gold medal, with Becker splitting a 47.44.Souhan, Jim (July 26, 2021)
"Former Gopher Bowe Becker wins swimming gold in 4x100 freestyle relay"
''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

''. Retrieved July 26, 2021.

;

Atos Atos is a European multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company headquartered in Bezons, France and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communications, cloud, big data and ...

(August 1, 2021)
"Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Swimming Results Book"
. ''

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

''. Retrieved August 4, 2021. The relay's final time was the third fastest swim in the event in history. Becker was the seventh University of Minnesota Golden Gopher to win a

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

at an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. For his success on the finals relay, Becker was nominated along with his finals relay teammates only, Curry was not included in the nomination, for the 2021 Golden Goggle Award for "Relay Performance of the Year", which was an honor bestowed upon him and his finals relay teammates by the

Foundation."Olympic Stars Headline USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards Nominees"
''

''. October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.D'Addona, Dan (October 13, 2021)
"Golden Goggle Award Nominees Announced by USA Swimming, led by Dressel, Ledecky, Jacoby, Finke"
''

''. Retrieved October 13, 2021.

International Swimming League

For the

2021 International Swimming League The 2021 International Swimming League was the third edition of the International Swimming League, a professional swimming league, established in 2019. It comprised ten teams composed of both women and men. The league, due to COVID-19 pandemic tr ...

, Becker was selected to the roster of team

.Penland, Spencer (August 1, 2021)
"ISL Season 3: Free Agency Period Closed July 30th, Season Begins August 24th"
''

''. Retrieved August 4, 2021. As of the end of the 2021 season, Becker had amassed 48.5

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, MVP, points over the entire existence of competition in the International Swimming League, since 2019, and ranked as number 319 out of 488 swimmers in terms of total number of MVP points earned in the history of the league.Keith, Braden (December 13, 2021)
"Sarah Sjostrom Becomes ISL's First-Ever Swimmer To Clear 1000 MVP Points"
''

''. Retrieved February 4, 2022.

2022: Transition to coaching

Becker started serving as a volunteer swim coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers swim team following the 2020 Summer Olympics, and in January 2022 he swam a 19.58 in the 50-yard freestyle and a 43.10 in the 100-yard freestyle at a triple dual meet swimming in exhibition.Keith, Braden (February 4, 2022)
"Bowe Becker Swims First Races Since August In Minnesota Tribune Meet"
''

''. Retrieved February 4, 2022. In early March, he placed seventh in the final of the 100 meter freestyle with a time of 50.26 seconds at the 2022 Pro Swim Series stop in

Westmont, Illinois Westmont is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Westmont is a community of 5.03 square miles in area with a 2010 population of 24,685. It is located approximately west of the Chicago Loop in the southeastern portion of DuPage Co ...

.Lohn, John (March 3, 2022)
"TYR Pro Series: Lilly King, Michael Andrew Storm to 100 Breaststroke Wins; Katie Ledecky Dazzles in 400 Freestyle"
''

''. Retrieved March 3, 2022. For the 50 meter freestyle prelims heats, he ranked sixth with a 22.51, which was 0.53 seconds behind first-ranked swimmer Michael Andrew and 0.08 seconds ahead of seventh-ranked Caeleb Dressel.Gibbs, Robert (March 5, 2022)
"2020 Pro Swim Series – Westmont: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved March 5, 2022. In the final, he lowered his time to a 22.43 and placed sixth overall.Hy-Tek (March 5, 2022)
"2022 TYR Pro Swim Series - Westmont: Meet Results"
''swmeets.com''. Retrieved March 5, 2022. On April 1, he ranked eighth in the prelims heats of the 50 meter freestyle at the Pro Swim Series stop at Northside Swim Center in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

with a time of 22.71 seconds, which was 0.58 seconds slower than first-ranked David Curtiss.Hamann, Michael (April 1, 2022)
"Pro Swim Series- San Antonio: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved April 1, 2022. In the final, he equalled his prelims time of 22.71 seconds to place eighth.Lohn, John (April 1, 2022)
"TYR Pro Series: Michael Andrew Clips Caeleb Dressel in 50 Freestyle; Leon Marchand and Chase Kalisz Shine"
''

''. Retrieved April 1, 2022. The following day he ranked 25th in the prelims heats of the 100 meter freestyle with a 51.30.Hy-Tek (April 2, 2022)
"2022 TYR Pro Swim Series - San Antonio"
''swmeets.com''. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

2022 International Team Trials

On day one of the 2022 US International Team Trials in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

, Becker tied for 19th-place in the 100 meter freestyle preliminary heats with a time of 49.69 seconds and did not advance to the evening final.

(April 26, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved April 26, 2022. For his second and final event of the Trials, the 50 meter freestyle on the fifth and final day, he qualified for the b-final from the morning prelims heats with an overall tenth-rank and a time of 22.22 seconds.

(April 30, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 50m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved April 30, 2022. He withdrew from and did not compete in the evening b-final.

(April 30, 2022)
"Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

Second retirement

The following month, ''

'' and ''

'' published Becker had permanently retired from competitive swimming again.De George, Matthew (May 11, 2022)
"Olympic Gold Medalist Bowe Becker Announces Retirement"
''

''. Retrieved July 25, 2022.

Personal best times

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Short course meters (25 m pool)

Awards and honors

* Golden Goggle Award nominee, Relay Performance of the Year: 2021 ( 4x100 meter freestyle relay)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Bowe 1997 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic swimmers of the United States Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Minnesota Golden Gophers men's swimmers 21st-century American people 20th-century American people