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.

University of Michigan Beginning in the Fall of 1988, Barrowman attended the University of Michigan, and swam for the Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Big Ten Conference competition under Hall of Fame Coach and former University of Michigan swimmer Jon Urbanchek. Urbanchek held the NCAA championship in the one-mile freestyle while at Michigan. He was named the Big 10 Athlete of the Year (all sports) in 1991. Between 1989 and 1991, he won three consecutive NCAA national championships in the 200-yard breaststroke, and was named NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 1990. His NCAA record of 1:53.77 from 1990, would stand strong for eleven years, and was the oldest men's NCAA record in 2001, when it was broken by Brendan Hansen. Barrowman broke the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke six times, and held the world's record for over thirteen years; both achievements are world records in themselves.

Barrowman placed what he considered a somewhat disappointing fourth in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:15.45. Barrowman had swum in third place before being dropped to fourth. Barrowman's former coach Joszef Nagy was also coaching Hungarian swimmer Jozsef Szabo who took the gold medal with a time of 2:13.52.

World records, championships Barrowman set a world record in the 200-meter breaststroke in 1989 at the USA Swimming Long Course National Championships with a time of 2:12.90. In 1991, he was named Champion of the World in the World Championships in Perth, Australia, winning the 200-meter breaststroke in world record time.

Dominating breaststroke during his career, he was selected as a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award in 1990, 1991 and 1993.