Hunter Armstrong has always been a performer at heart. But outside the swimming pool – his grandest stage – he felt like he was drowning.
In June 2023, the man Armstrong followed out to California to train under, Matt Bowe, left Cal to become Michigan’s head swimming and diving coach. While Armstrong understood the move was best for Bowe and his family and didn’t hold it against him, it still created a major personal hardship.
In July, just before the former Ohio State swimmer won his first world title in the 50-meter backstroke at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, his grandfather passed away.