NBAC Receives $100,000 Grant From The USOC

Michael Phelps's goal of turning the North Baltimore Aquatic Club into a training hub for elite, post-collegiate swimmers got a $100,000 boost Saturday night from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The organization's board of directors approved a 2009 budget during a meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif., that included a grant to the NBAC, according to USOC Chief Communications Officer Darryl Seibel. Seibel said he could not disclose the amount, but a swimming source said it was $100,000.

The funding will immediately make the NBAC a central focus of U.S. Olympic development efforts in swimming as the 2012 Summer Games in London approach.

Phelps's coach Bob Bowman, who along with Phelps took over the club through a post-Olympic business partnership after four years at the University of Michigan, said the grant would help the facility provide support services for a hoped-for training team of 10-12 professional swimmers.

"It means a lot to our effort here," Bowman said by phone Saturday night. "It means we can offer the quality of coaches, facilities and opportunities it takes to win medals at the Olympics Games. We're very grateful to the USOC for their support."

Bowman said he hoped to add six pros by January and several in the succeeding months. They would join Phelps and fellow Olympic star Katie Hoff, both of whom have trained most of their careers at NBAC. Because of the success of Phelps and Hoff and several other Olympic and world-class stars under Bowman, coach Paul Yetter and founder Murray Stephens, the facility was already considered among the nation's best at elite development.

Bowman was named the chief executive officer of NBAC shortly before the Summer Games in Beijing. Phelps, who had followed Bowman to Ann Arbor when he received the head coaching position there, agreed to return with his longtime coach.

Bowman wanted to narrow his focus while adding a new dimension to the North Baltimore program. The NBAC operates at the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center in Mount Washington, where Bowman and Phelps began training together 11 years ago when Phelps was 12.

The post-graduate swim group under Dave Marsh in Charlotte, N.C., has received similar support, with a $200,000 grant awarded leading up to the 2008 Summer Games by USA Swimming.

By Amy Shipley  |  December 6, 2008; 7:40 PM ET  | Category:  Swimming
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