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Mike Bottom got the call in his Omaha, Nebraska, hotel room between preliminary heats and finals on the last day of the U.S. Olympic swim trials in early July. He can tell you exactly what happened next.Bottom swung his feet from the bed onto the floor. His free hand clapped onto his head, as if it might spin off. He kept his speech controlled and his responses befitting the son of a naval officer.Yes, sir, Bottom said. No, sir. You can count on me, sir.The University of Michigan and Club Wolverine head coach hung up, turned to associate coach Josh White, and repeated the other end of the conversation: National team director Frank Busch had just named him to the staff of the 2016 Olympic mens team.Both men started crying. Gratification deferred for 36 years had finally arrived.As a 24-year-old in 1980, Bottom qualified to swim the 100-meter butterfly for an Olympic team that didnt compete because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games. Bottom earned two degrees in psychology, worked outside the sport for a decade, then returned to channel the energy of his diverted aspirations into other athletes.Since then, over the course of coaching stints at Auburn University, the University of Southern California (his alma mater), the University of California-Berkeley, and The Race Club, a private Florida-based training program, Bottom has helped several dozen swimmers from multiple countries qualify for the Summer Games. He is best known for molding sprint freestylers, including 50-meter Olympic gold medalists Gary Hall and Anthony Ervin and silver medalist Duje Draganja of Croatia.Thanks to those individual associations, hes been on the Olympic pool deck for various highlights, including Hall and Ervins historic first-place tie at the Sydney Games in 2000.Hall called Bottom a genius psychologist [who] applied his talent to the measurable outcome of swimming.Mike can assess a team of 25 individual personalities and know exactly what motivates each one in varying ways, Hall wrote in an email. Some need to be yelled at, some need to be coddled. No coach, that I know of, has been as effective as Mike Bottom in tailoring approaches in coaching, sports psychology and motivation.Yet Bottom had long ago made peace with the fact that he might never go to an Olympics as an official member of the U.S. delegation.Coaching assistants are chosen at the discretion of the national team director and the U.S. mens and womens head coaches, though selections are usually roughly based on each coachs success in getting athletes on the team. Like the swimmers themselves, coaches can see opportunities slip away by fractions of seconds. Bottom also said he probably didnt lobby hard enough for himself. It just wasnt his main motivation.Had I made the team in 80, I dont think this is what I have chosen to do, he said. I get to see joy in a way thats even greater than personal joy. One is looking at yourself. The other is looking outward. Its driven me to try to give that experience to as many people as I can.Bottom, a married father of three daughters, succeeded current Arizona State University and head mens Olympic coach Bob Bowman at Michigan in 2008 and now oversees both the mens and womens teams. White, an endurance guru with a PhD in human performance, has helped draw distance swimmers to Ann Arbor. Wolverines Connor Jaeger (1,500-meter freestyle) and Sean Ryan (10-kilometer open water) qualified for the Rio-bound U.S. team.At Cal, Bottom also worked with defending Olympic 100-meter freestyle champion Nathan Adrian, who will try to retain his title next month, and the 35-year-old Ervin, who will compete in the 50 freestyle 16 years after he tied Hall for gold.Bottoms Olympic journey began at one of the strangest swim meets ever held: the 1980 trials in Irvine, California, in late July, which began a few days after the actual Olympic swimming competition had concluded in Moscow.American officials wanted to make a competitive point, so they moved the dates of the trials, posted the times from Moscow atop the scoreboard during each event and kept a running medal table. In todays terminology, it was a virtual Olympics.Our coaches did an incredible job of keeping us focused on finishing the job, said Glenn Mills, who swam for the powerhouse Cincinnati Pepsi Marlins team and won the 200-meter breaststroke at the 1980 trials. Everybody was fighting to win and do world records and do what they could.Three world records were set and a number of virtual medals were won in Irvine. Afterward, the team went to Hollywood to be outfitted in official gear, and then on to the White House to meet then-President Jimmy Carter, who had imposed the boycott.The 1980 swimmers had a range of reactions to the boycott and virtual Games, but Bottom, who has three generations of Navy men in his family tree and whose father was a Korean War veteran, tried to view it through a constructive prism.This was the way I thought about it: If we didnt go, I would be giving up something of meaning for my country, Bottom said. The Vietnam War was so close. Local guys I grew up with had gone. That was na?ve, but that was my viewpoint.Years later, with Russia still occupying Afghanistan, Bottom had reason to question his own thinking. But he said he still feels privileged to have shaken Carters hand.Every member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team received the Congressional Gold Medal from Carter, but like many aspects of that teams existence, it came with an asterisk. Congress declared its intention to give the athletes its highest civilian honor (not to be confused with the Medal of Honor awarded for military valor), but proper protocol wasnt followed and the medals werent recorded in official government paperwork. The medal status was formally upgraded in 2007 after two team members researched the issue.Bottoms brothers Joe and Dave also were accomplished elite swimmers. Joe held the world record in the 100-meter butterfly and won Olympic silver in the event in 1976. Dave, a former American record holder in the 100-meter backstroke, was a captain of the Stanford University team.Their father, George, died when Mike was 26, and amid the familys sense of loss was the knowledge of what could have been in the summer of 1980. But Bottom has never felt sorry for himself.Mike hasnt dwelled on it at all, because hes been so focused on getting other people there, said Mills, a coach and producer of instructional videos. When talking about motivating kids, its a benefit to teaching -- its not just about winning and getting medals and going to meets. Its about setting goals and making them.Bottom appreciates the fact that many people in the sport wanted this for him as much as he has wanted it for them.Everyone can relate to the disappointment of almost getting there and having that dream vanish, he said. My story taps into a lot of peoples stories.Swell Water Bottle Uk Sale . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. S Well Teakwood Drinking Bottle . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.swellbottleuk.com/ . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. Swell Uk Bottle . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. Liberty London sWell Bottle . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3.DETROIT -- Tyler Collins knows the clock is ticking on his stay in the major leagues.With J.D Martinez nearing a return from a fractured elbow, Collins is trying to find ways to extend his stay beyond the next few days.Friday, he hit a three-run homer in the second inning, then tripled and scored in the fifth as the Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros 14-6.Thats what you dream about at night -- having a big game and getting the offense off and rolling, he said. Its good to be part of it.Collins started the season with the Tigers after Cameron Maybin broke his wrist, but was sent down in disgrace in late April. Not only was he hitting .100 with one extra-base hit, he made an obscene gesture at the fans after misplaying a fly ball.He didnt help himself by going to Triple-A Toledo and hitting .214, but when Martinez got hurt and Steven Moya couldnt handle the defensive responsibilities of right field, he got the call.Since his return, hes hitting .276 with three homers and eight RBI in nine games.The better he plays, the more we have to think about keeping him, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. Hes learning to slow the game down a little bit.Justin Upton and James McCann also homered, while Cameron Maybin had three hits and scored three times for the Tigers, who were coming off a three-game sweep at Fenway Park. Detroit moved a half-game behind Houston, with both chasing Boston for the second AL wild-card spot.The hot streak could turn the Tigers into buyers at the trade deadline.Lets put it this way -- it certainly doesnt help if we keep winning, Ausmus said. Theres no question about that.Houston got homers from Jose Altuve and Jake Marisnek, but lost for the third time in four games.Matt Boyd (2-2) picked up the win, allowing three runs on four hits in five innings. He walked one while striking out six. Boyd is 2-0 in his last three starts after going 0-2 in his first six.It was awesome to get that kind of offense, Boyd said. I was all over the place in the first two innings, but I ironed out the issues and got things fixed.Collin McHugh (7-7) went to the mound with a 2-0 lead, but didnt make it out of the second inning. He allowed eight runs on 10 hits while only retiring five batters.Thats obviously not a great way to start the game, said Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. We got the quick 2-0 lead, and then were down seven after the second.dddddddddddd We battled all night, but thats a big hole.Boyd struck out George Springer to start the game, but Marwin Gonzalez doubled and Altuve lined his 18th homer into the right-field stands. Detroit, though, tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Miguel Cabrera and an RBI single from Nick Castellanos.Maybins two-run double put the Tigers ahead 4-2 in the second, and Cabrera followed with a run-scoring single. Castellanos beat out a two-out infield single to score Cabrera with Detroits sixth run.They just never let me up for air, McHugh said. If I made a good pitch, they got a bat on it, and if I missed my spot at all, they hit it hard. That wasnt how I envisioned this game going.Chris Devenski replaced McHugh after Uptons single, and immediately allowed a three-run homer to Collins.The Tigers led 13-3 after seven, but the Astros scored three runs off Tigers mop-up relievers Mark Lowe and Dustin Molleken.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: 1B Gonzalez left the game with a sore right hand, but it isnt considered serious. ... Houston placed INF Luis Valbuena on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring and recalled INF Tyler White from Triple-A Fresno. ... CF Carlos Gomez did not start after leaving Wednesdays game with a strained hamstring. Hes expected to miss the entire weekend series in Detroit.Tigers: Martinez and RHP Jordan Zimmermann (neck) were both on rehab duty Friday with Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers are hoping to have both players back before the end of the current nine-game homestand.PATERNITY LEAVEAstros starting pitcher Doug Fister isnt with the team this weekend, as his wife is expected to give birth to the couples first child. Fister pitched for the Tigers from 2011-13.HOT STREAK ENDSMcHugh came into the night having posted a 2.49 ERA in his last seven starts, with the Astros going 6-1 in those games. The eight runs allowed tied a career record, last done on June 13, 2015 against Seattle.UP NEXTThe teams continue their three-game series Saturday evening, with Justin Verlander (10-6, 3.64) facing Mike Fiers (7-4, 4.69). Verlander is 3-0 in six career starts against Houston with a 2.06 ERA. ' ' '