In March of this year, I radically moved my training to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to work with my old coach from Berkeley, Mike Bottom. This is something athletes don’t usually do, and although many couldn’t fathom such a move, my immediate future in swimming depended on it.  Working with guys like Evgeny Korotyshkin and Sergej Fesikov was a real luxury, but the many disagreements I had with my old coach led to our eventual separation.

Joining Mike Bottom’s “Club Wolverine” at the University of Michigan was a breath of fresh air for me.  Experiencing the culture and philosophy of this team in my first workout was like being reborn.  I knew my old coach and he knew me, and I was able to work into my new training regiment with ease.

Along the way, I got to know new elite athletes such as China’s Wu Peng, Ireland’s Barry Murphy, and Barbados’ Bradley Alley, among many others, who gave me a lot of new game-changing ideas in swimming to think about along the way. For that, I am thankful to all of them!

A special thanks to assistant coaches Mark Hill and Sam Wensman. You guys made a difference to me and are going to be notable coaches some day, I hope you have some opportunities to come visit me in Serbia. But beware… you may never want to leave…