Mike Bottom Offers Advice on Dealing With Adversity

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Michigan head coach Mike Bottom posted a short video on social media on Friday about dealing with adversity. Bottom had qualified to swim on the 1980 Olympic Team for the United States that infamously did not attend the Games in Moscow as a political protest orchestrated by then President Jimmy Carter. Bottom ultimately lost out on a chance of representing the stars and stripes at the Olympics and had to deal with that burden for a long time.

Bottom used the pain of that loss into motivation for his coaching career. Now at the University of Michigan, he has helped numerous athletes get on various Olympic teams including most recently Connor Jaeger, Siobhan Haughey and Milorad Cavic when Bottom was still at Cal Berkeley.

The Olympic Games that were originally set for July this year have since been pushed back a year because of how the COVID-19 disease is spreading throughout the world. Mike Bottom, while wearing his 1980 Olympic jacket, offered this advice during these uncertain times while athletes have been unable to have organized practices unless allowed by local governments.

“Feel it and feel it hard. Be motivated by it to do something great, to do something with purpose. Do something that is extraordinary like making an Olympic team,” Mike Bottom concluded.

Feeling stuck because you can’t train like you’re used to? @MikeBottom has a way to deal with that. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/uLnnyDVyhx

— Michigan Swimming & Diving (@umichswimdive) May 8, 2020

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