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U.S. OLYMPIC SWIM TRIALSJune 25, 2016Bob BowmanAllison SchmittOmaha, Nebraska THE MODERATOR: We will go ahead and start things with Alison. Maybe just tell us how training has been going for you and what your thoughts are about being back here in Omaha after experiencing success here four years ago. ALLISON SCHMITT: Training has been going well, and I'm excited to be pack, third time, and a different perspective every time. 2008 I was the kid that just wanted to get the Teddy Bear after I saw Michael bring the Teddy Bear back after making the Olympic Team. I wanted to also get the Teddy Bear! And then in 2012, left school to come to Baltimore and train, focused strictly on swimming, and everything went as planned and actually exceeded the expectations. And now back for my third one, and I feel like a five-year-old kid waking up for Christmas again. THE MODERATOR: Go ahead and take questions. BOB BOWMAN: Okay, thanks! ALLISON SCHMITT: Okay, see ya! Q. Allison, how is going through some of the things you've gone through inside and outside of the pool you think molded you into where you are now with going into this? We know what you've gone through with some depression issues and also some results that have not been what you wanted them to be. How has that steeled you for this? ALLISON SCHMITT: I've learned a lot about myself in the past few years, and I think that any failure, any disappointment I've had, I've learned way more about myself than I have through any successes I've had. So I'm -- as hard as those may have been, I'm grateful for them and I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. Q. Bob, I wanted to ask you about Allison and the fact that where she was a year, two years ago -- BOB BOWMAN: Yeah. Q. -- and where she is today, did you think that was possible to get here? BOB BOWMAN: I thought it was going to be tough to get back to where she is, really, physically, to start with, but that part has all been -- she is training at her top level. And racing, really, very close to her super top level. What I was most concerned with was that she would actually like doing it and love swimming again, and she really wasn't during that time, you know, when you were kind of -- had that downtime. You know, it's very hard for me in the beginning to fully understand what she was going through because she is so good at smile, you know, always! And I think once we figured out that there were some things that we could help her with and that we could get help for her, that was the start of something really good, and as soon as she started taking those steps the swimming started coming along. So it's just been really a continuous, really, up -- things have been good since then. Right? ALLISON SCHMITT: Uh-huh. BOB BOWMAN: Yeah. Q. Allison, we were hearing a lot about Boomer the last half hour. Can you talk us through how cute he is, what's amazing about him and also now that he's finally here how Michael has been acting as a father? ALLISON SCHMITT: Boomer is awesome. He's the happiest little baby ever. He only cries if he needs food or poops his diaper. BOB BOWMAN: Which is most of the time, but he eats a lot! ALLISON SCHMITT: I have had poop -- I have had a poopy diaper pooped on my shirt, so I have experienced that already! (Laughter.) But it's awesome to see the family together, to see the three of them, and when Bob comes over it's -- I mean, it's like one happy family. It's fun to see Michael as a dad, and I can just see how happy he is, and you can see it every day, even when he comes into practice; he's like a new person, a new father. Q. Allison, as a person, what qualities about yourself do you have that make you a world class competitor? Bob, what qualities do you see in her that makes her the competitor she is? ALLISON SCHMITT: I love to race! I like to have fun, and I think that I'm more of a laid back athlete than a lot of other athletes, but I love to race, and I think that that helps me with the competitive edge helps me every time I dive in the water. BOB BOWMAN: I would say that's 100% accurate. Her love of racing and she really embraces the environment and, you know, when Allison gets too serious, then I know things might not be good. When we have a happy Schmitty, we have a fast Schmitty, so that's my job, keep her happy. Q. Allison, piggy-backing off that, a lot of people are saying that the women's 200 Free is going to be one of the best if not the best race of this meet. Since you love to race so much, does that almost work into your wheelhouse that you don't have to think or be serious you just get in and do what you do best? ALLISON SCHMITT: Yeah, the same for the 100 Free and 400 Free. I'm not one to listen to what other people say. I know we have prepared the best that we can for this and I'm going to jump in and do exactly what I need to do and I'm going to race hard in that, and whatever happens, I'm going to be happy with the journey that took me to where I am today. Q. And then an unrelated question, since you are the best person to answer this, being around Nicole and Michael, why do you think they are such a good match? What is it about the two of them that makes them so perfect together? ALLISON SCHMITT: They balance out each other perfectly. BOB BOWMAN: Yeah, yeah. ALLISON SCHMITT: It's great to see them together and the chemistry they have. One of the times that I was riding to practice with them, they were talking back and forth, and I was sitting there laughing, and they're like, what are you laughing at? And I was like, "You guys are so perfect for each other. You guys complement each other so well." It's cool to see that, and I'm happy to see how happy they are, especially with their new child. BOB BOWMAN: Yeah. Q. Following Karen's question about the 200 Free, does it get your juices flowing when you're in a race with other big names, others who have accomplished a lot? Do you block out who you're competing against almost completely? How do you deal with that? ALLISON SCHMITT: Like I said earlier, I just love to race. I mean, with any name, any name from an actor, actress, superstar athlete, I see them as people. I don't really see them as superstars or someone that's unbeatable, and I know Missy and Katie are in there, and they have been doing great. They're great for the sport, and they're great friends and great racers. All of us -- what we all have in common is we love to race, and we have a love for this sport, so every time we get to dive in and race against each other, it's a fun time. Q. What was it like for you as someone who loves to race when you got in the water and for a lot of reasons you just when you tried to summon that, whatever it takes, it wasn't there? ALLISON SCHMITT: Um, it was rough. I'm grateful that I'm still here four years later. I know that throughout the past four years there were many times that I wanted to call it quits, and I remember after 2014 summer crying in the Baltimore parking lot because I was going into talk to Bob, tell him that I was going to stop swimming, and I didn't want to go talk to him because I knew deep down I didn't want to quit, but I didn't know what was going on. I mean, even last year -- a year and a half ago I thought that was going to be my last -- I had dropped out of the Perth meet in Australia. I knew I was committed to go to Pan-Am's, so I knew I was going to swim through that summer, and I wasn't sure I would be here today, but I'm happy with where I am, I'm grateful for the people around me, and I'm grateful for being here today. Q. Allison, you've had obviously a very long, successful career. What are the future plans, or has it all been very focused on this summer and then reassess after? ALLISON SCHMITT: My passion right now, besides swimming, and of course I'm here because I still love swimming, and I still have goals, but I have a passion to destigmatize the negativity around mental health and depression, so I'm looking to go back to school so I can have the scientific background beside the experience that I've had so I can use the scientific background and my experience to help inform other people and to hopefully save a few lives. Q. So is this going to be the end of swimming for you, do you think? ALLISON SCHMITT: Let's try and make it through this week, first. (Chuckles.) Q. Allison, from that time in the parking lot and for Bob as well, did you have the conversation with Bob and what was the conversation like? ALLISON SCHMITT: Oh, yeah, every time that I have a serious talk with Bob I walk in and I say, "Bob, I hope I don't cry," and I immediately start crying. BOB BOWMAN: She immediately starts crying. ALLISON SCHMITT: Immediately! This one I was already crying, and he was like, "Oh gosh." I sat down, and I mean -- I think that he could tell that deep down I didn't want to quit. He told me let's go each week. We'll see each week how you feel and where you want to be, and it just happened to progress every time from that conversation. BOB BOWMAN: I would say that's very accurate. One of the things that I learned with Allison over the years is the first time she ever cried, right, I had the usual male reaction, do anything I can do to make is stop? What can I do? We'll fix it, okay! And I kind of learned she really just needs somebody to listen to her and to kind of get some things off her chest. That was one of those where I could tell she was in a place where she needed somebody to just be there for her, and I was happy I could do that, and we just sort of worked our way day by day. Some days weren't good, she left; some days she kept going, just went at it like that. Q. Allison, where do you think you are now -- not physically in the pool but mentally? I know you were seeing someone, I guess, is that process still going on, and how do you feel where you were a year and a half ago and where you are now? And Bob if you could comment on that as well, what changes you've seen in her? ALLISON SCHMITT: I think I'm a whole 180. A completely different person and a completely different attitude about everything. I think that seeing a psychologist is one of the best tools that anybody, an athlete, or any person, could possibly use, so I'm still an advocate of seeing one, and I still see one and talk to one, and I think that -- I mean, I have my days. There are good days, bad days, but there's a lot more good days than bad days now, and, like I said earlier, I'm very grateful. I'm grateful for the support system I've had throughout the bad times. They stuck with me all the way through, and I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them. BOB BOWMAN: Yeah. You know, I think the difference between Allison now whose -- you could compare the swimming of Allison now and Allison 2012 and really Allison in 2008, and they're pretty similar, which is a good thing, because that was really good swimming! But the difference is back then she was just a girl, and now she is a real -- an amazing woman. I mean, you really are! ALLISON SCHMITT: Thank you. BOB BOWMAN: She is just very mature about how she communicates, how she handles things. She can still be Grumplestiltskin every now and then. ALLISON SCHMITT: Grump. (Chuckles.) BOB BOWMAN: It's a joke. But anyway, other than that it's just a joy to have her, because she is doing it for the right reasons, she is doing it the right way, and she just learned so much about her, and she uses it now, which is a very good thing. Q. Allison, I'm curious, everything you've gone through and Michael has gone through, and a lot of Olympic athletes have gone through, do you feel more should be done to prepare athletes for the aftermath of competing in the Olympics and on a huge stage? ALLISON SCHMITT: 100%. I think that -- I mean, how I describe it from 2012, we have one goal. We're working toward this goal for our whole lives, and we're given everything! We're given everything from our coaches, our trainers, USA Swimming. I mean, it's to the point where we don't even carry our own passports! We rely on everyone for everything, and as soon as we're done swimming, as soon as that medal is around our necks, you're on your own! I can even relate it to being a child. It's like a 2-year-old child, all of the sudden I'm going to college, from 2 to 18, with no -- none of that in between learning experience. BOB BOWMAN: And I think the nature of the preparation is you don't want to think back, you don't want to think ahead. You have to focus right on where you are, and until the medal is around her neck, that's what you do. Quite frankly none of us give much thought to what comes next, because that's -- our goal is pretty hard to reach and very important. So it's sort of the nature of the beast that focuses you so much on the present that you're almost afraid to do a lot of future planning. I think we're in a good place with Allison now she has actually done that, and it's really helped, but I do think a debriefing of some kind is really important, and I know as soon as the Olympics is over, I've already booked my flight out of Rio, first one I could possibly get on, 5 p.m. on the 14th. I know when I'm leaving, right? Because it's one of those things, it's like, okay, I gotta -- that's it. But the athletes want to stay, and they want to have time to do that, and I think if there is some way to prepare them for what's coming after, it would be a very good thing. Q. (No microphone.) BOB BOWMAN: I think meeting with a psychologist is what it should be, and I think there could be something more formal done, or maybe it should be done individually, because different people react in different ways, but I do think having an exit strategy, so to speak, is a good thing, would help a lot of people, because it really is, you know, we have this whole network of people, we're focused on this goal, we provide all this support in the process of that goal, and then kind of as soon as they get there, well, we're on to the next -- we go back to the next one, right, and do the same thing, and Schmitty has to, like, deal. (Chuckles.) Now she's ready to deal, which is a good thing. ALLISON SCHMITT: Yeah. Q. Allison, is part of the problem or the challenge that you maybe think that if you win a gold medal your life will change? That's almost the big lie, what you're told, and then you get four gold medals and realize that everything has not changed? Is that some of it? ALLISON SCHMITT: I mean, gold medals or no gold medals, I think I'm the exact same person. It's different how other people perceive us. I mean, Michael sitting up here, he's Michael. He's a father, he's a brother, he's a son, a teammate, friend, then there's someone else, an average Joe looking at him like, whoa, look at all those gold medals and that's amazing, it's an amazing feat. It's just his passion. He is the greatest Olympian of all time that had the passion of this sport, and him and Bob working together, it's amazing what they accomplished, but at the end of the day he is a brother, a father, a son, a husband, so it's different because we are the same people. We are just human beings, we do make mistakes, we do have ups, we do have downs, but we have extra medals around our neck, and that's the only real difference. Q. Bob, can I ask you quickly, do you feel like the journey that you've been on with Michael and Allison, has it made you a more empathetic coach, or how has it changed the way you approach things? BOB BOWMAN: Definitely. You know, it's -- you know, when you start out with both of them, Michael at 11, Allison at 15, couldn't do a push up, we started working on step one, do two push-ups, one, then two. They improve really quickly, and they don't need you that much personally because they're not that much invested it, you know what I mean? They're doing it because they love to do it, and you're doing it because you want to help them get better, and as we stay together long enough, we become connected so much more personally and at some point the straight line of improvement stops, and you have to do different things to manipulate that, and at some point they start growing up and there are things that they want to do and that may or may not fit into your swimming plans, so I would say that it's a great joy for me to have gone through the growing up process with both of them, and I'm certainly more empathetic than I was. Certainly in Alison's case, I think I've learned so much about people, really. I think I knew about the swimming, we still got the swimming thing down, but -- ALLISON SCHMITT: The female brain. BOB BOWMAN: The female brain. (Chuckles.) It's a book that Carrie gave me, and it really helped! I think in learning to help Allison move forward, I think it's really made me a lot better coach. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Bob. Thanks Allison. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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