Published in the "Tampa Tribune," Mar 24, 2010 — Jason Bowes knows the benefits of surrounding swimmers with Olympians. As a former staff member at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club that produced Olympians Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, he saw what could happen by exposing younger swimmers to that level of talent.

That's why Bowes hosted Olympic gold medalist Garrett Weber-Gale and USA National Team member Matt Lowe at a recent clinic for area club swimmers. Weber-Gale and Lowe conducted two separate two-hour clinics, one for swimmers age 11 and younger and the other for swimmers age 12 and older.

"It was awesome. It was really cool," said Bowes, the TBAY and Tampa Prep swim coach said. "The kids got to be around an Olympic gold medalist." They also got to see the gold medal. Weber-Gale brought one of the two gold medals he won in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The swimmers had a chance to pose for photographs with it and also got autographs. "A lot of the kids had never seen a gold medal before," Bowes said. "I told them they should take something away from this and use it to help them mature as a swimmer."

Bowes received an email a while ago from Weber-Gale alerting him he was going to be in Florida. That sparked the idea for the clinics and the event was solidified during a meet in Texas. More than 100 swimmers from various area club teams attended the event at the Tampa Prep pool on March 13.

Weber-Gale and Lowe spoke with the swimmers about training and conditioning and goals and also showed videos, including one of Weber-Gale's gold medal performance. Weber-Gale was a member of the winning 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, arguably the most exciting race of what was known as the Phelps Olympics. He also won a gold medal for his contributions during the preliminary heats of the 4x100 medley relay.

"Some of them didn't know who he was," Bowes said. "But after they watched the video, they thought he was so cool." Weber-Gale, who also earned a gold medal at the 2009 World Championships, and Lowe got in the pool with the swimmers and worked on their technique. "They got a good feel for it, for what it takes to be a top swimmer," Bowes said.

Bowes is thinking about getting another group of Olympic swimmers to conduct a clinic sometime in the fall during the high school season. "It helps for swimmers to see others that have had success," he said. "Now they know what it takes to be the best and how hard they have to work if they want to achieve that success."

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached (813) 259-7860.