In Pictures: Michael Phelps’ former coach shares glimpses of pre-Christmas festivities in Budapest ahead of Short Course World Championships 2024

Michael Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman recently offered glimpses from pre-Christmas festivities in Budapest ahead of the 2024 Short Course Swimming World Championships. Bowman will be in attendance during the tournament as the coach of Hubert Kos, who he has been guiding since 2022.

Kos is all set to compete in four events at the Short Course World Championships, including the 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke, and 100m butterfly disciplines. Under the guidance of Bowman, who coached the most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, from 2004 to 2016, the 21-year-old accomplished gold medals in the Paris Olympics and the European Aquatics Championships in the 200m backstroke event.

Ahead of the Short Course Aquatics Championships which kicks off on December 10 and runs until December 15, Bob Bowman took to his Instagram stories to offer glimpses of pre-Christmas festivities in Budapest. He posted a picture of a fully decorated Christmas tree installed in Budapest City Centre.

Take a look at the picture here:

Screenshot of Michael Phelps’ former coach's Instagram story - Source: @coach_bowman on Instagram

Bowman also uploaded a video showing various kinds of sweets and candies from a shop.

One can view it here:

Screenshot of Bowman’s Instagram story - Source: @coach_bowman on Instagram

Additionally, he shared a glimpse of his visit to a Christmas market in Budapest.

Take a look here:

Screenshot of Bowman’s Instagram story - Source: @coach_bowman on Instagram

Notably, 2024 has been a remarkable year for Bowman as his other student Leon Marchand collected five medals at the Paris Olympics, including four gold in individual events - bronze in the medley relay event.

Michael Phelps’ former coach on Leon Marchand’s 400m individual medley dominant show at Paris Olympics

Leon Marchand and Bob Bowman (Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images)

Michael Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman articulated his thoughts following Leon Marchand’s Olympic record performance in the 400m individual medley in Paris. Bowman told the Associated Press:

“I actually did tear up a little bit right at the end, everyone was so happy. It was pretty much exactly what I had hoped for, that he would be able to rise to the moment, because we knew what that was going to be like. And my question was: Could I have him prepared enough, mentally, physically, so that, No. 1, he could perform and, No. 2, just handle the expectations? And he did amazing.”

With Marchand competing in the presence of the home crowd, the cheers were loud. Speaking about the atmosphere, Bowman added:

“It was incredible. I’ve never really been at anything like that. So it was great, it was fantastic.”

However, Marchand isn't competing at the 2024 Short Course World Championships as he withdrew from the event due to exhaustion from competing in multiple competitions.