Mike Barrowman

Michael Ray Barrowman (born December 4, 1968) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Barrowman was one of the pioneers of the "wave-style" breaststroke technique. Prior to attending University of Michigan, he trained with Montgomery Square Copenhaver Swim Club, Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club in Maryland, and the Nation's Capital Swim Club.

Barrowman was born December 4, 1968 in Asunción, Paraguay. Mike's father was an army cartographer, requiring the family to relocate often. Barrowman began swimming by the age of five and lived in Rhode Island through the age of 11, where he swam for the Cumberland Lincoln Boys Club, setting several New England and Rhode Island State age-group records. By 13, around 1981, Barrowman moved and lived in the Washington metropolitan area in Potomac, Maryland. He attended Potomac's Winston Churchill High School, where he swam for the school team and the Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club through most of his High School years.

In 1986, Barrowman began swimming with the Curl-Burke Swim Club (Now officially the Nation's Capital Swim Club), where he was coached by one of his most influential mentors, Hungarian-born Hall of Fame Coach Jozsef Nagy, who helped Barrowman focus on breaststroke. Nagy first introduced the "wave-action" breaststroke technique and had competed internationally for his native Hungary in the stroke. Barrowman eventually trained with Nagy's Curl-Burke Swim Club in Washington D.C., around 20 miles Southeast of Potomoc, Maryland, though they currently also have training facilities in Maryland.