Michael Phelps' mother makes feelings known for swimmer's former coach Bob Bowman with touching note on birthday

Michael Phelps' mother, Deborah Phelps, shared a heartfelt note for her son's former coach, Bob Bowman. Bowman, born on April 6, 1965, turned 60 on Sunday as he continues to explore his swimming endeavors as the Director of Swimming at the University of Texas.

Phelps and Bowman's journey started a long time back at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, and since then, Bowman has also shared a close bond with Phelps' family including his parents. Phelps' mother recently shared a post on her Instagram handle that featured a picture of the swimmer and Bowman on the coach's birthday.

In her post, she expressed her gratitude for the contribution Bowman has made to her son's career. She also thanked Bowman for the memories he has made with the family over the years. Phelps' mother, Deborah, wrote:

"Birthday wishes to a man and friend we welcomed into our lives decades ago who became an integral part of our family. We were so fortunate. Thank you for so many memories and times we spent together. Here’s to you Coach Bman on your special day….may it be filled with all the love and joy you so deserve and lots of ice cream and cake."

Michael Phelps' former coach Bob Bowman has won several accolades across his decorated career, including the USA Coach of the Year award six times in his career.

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Michael Phelps' former coach Bob Bowman shares how he handled the swimmer's depression after the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Michael Phelps at the Men's 4x100m medley relay final during the 2008 Beijing Olympics (Image via: Getty Images)

Michael Phelps' former coach Bob Bowman recently shared how he handled the swimmer's struggle with depression after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he had an impressive campaign with eight gold medals.

During a conversation, Bowman recalled that after the Beijing campaign, both he and Phelps were left with questions of their upcoming endeavors. Additionally, he also said that he handled the situation very poorly and always blamed Phelps for missing the practice sessions. He said (via Daily Stoic, 23:01 onwards):

"After Michael swam in Beijing and had this amazing sort of thing and afterward you're like what the hell do we do now, that's a big part of his struggle... He's missing a lot of practices a lot, of course I handled it as bad as I could handle it, I was just like you're throwing your life away."

Further in the conversation, Bob Bowman also said that his agent advised him not to control every move of Michael Phelps and rather provide the best training he could.