by Craig Morgan, theSunDevils.com writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- If Sun Devil swimmer Cameron Craig and his coach, Bob Bowman, were your only points of reference, you'd wonder if Craig's collegiate swimming prospects were a lost cause.
The only way to understand the duo's seemingly harsh critique is to understand that this is big-time swimming, Bowman is a big-time coach and he considers Craig a big-time recruit with the potential to become the greatest swimmer in Sun Devils history. There's no need for coddling at this stage. Both coach and swimmer are beyond that.
"He's got such great physical potential and so much room for improvement," Bowman said. "He's one of the top two or three -- if not the best -- freshmen in the country in his races and there's only about 10 things he does wrong. If I get it down to seven or eight, he'd be one the best swimmers in the country. If we get it down to five, he'll be unbelievable."
Craig is onboard with that approach. "We're definitely tweaking my freestyle because I have a very slow start, terrible turns and I'm definitely very bad underwater," he added, laughing. "I do have on top of the water speed so that helps make up for it, but Bob is helping me improve in all those other areas."
Craig never set his sights on being anything more than a college swimmer even though he was named Michigan's Division I high school swimmer of the year in 2016 after winning the state championship in the 100 backstroke and 200 IM in which he set state records. He just wanted to make it to the next level, but that was before he showed up at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Maui, Hawaii from Aug. 24-27.
Craig was part of the winning 4x100 meter freestyle and medley relays and on an individual level he finished second in the 100 meter backstroke, 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly.
"I dropped a dramatic amount of time and I definitely feel like it sparked more publicity," said Craig, who had essentially tapered for
the event all year except for the high school state meet. "It surprised me but it also motivated me for World (Championship) Trials next year and for my college career."
To take Craig to the next level, Bowman has him working on head position, reaction time to combat slow starts, he has changed Craig's hand position on his flip turns to ensure that his breakout stroke comes with his strong arm, and he is lengthening his underwater time.
"He doesn't hold a streamlined body position," Bowman said. "He's actually quite good at underwater kicking but he doesn't do it under stress; he doesn't kick far enough. He might do two or three when he should do seven, eight or 10. If he did, he'd travel faster than on top of the water.
"What we're really working on is his efficiency in every aspect. He has a good tempo and stroke but he has to manage it better by trying to use less strokes in the first half of races and then maintain his speed better at the end."
Craig earned his second CollegeSwimming Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week honor on Nov. 15 after the Big Ten vs. USA College Challenge. Craig finished in the top five in three of his four events. His best showing was a second-place finish in the 100-yard free. He also had personal bests in both the 100 fly and the 50 free and earned NCAA b-cuts in the 50 free and 100 free.
Despite the accolades, Craig is looking forward to long-course events where he believes he will excel in a format built for his strengths. Bowman admits he anxious to see what the future holds for Craig.
"The thing I love about Cameron is that he is a prime-time player," Bowman said. "When the pressure gets greater he gets better.
''Like I said, he's a physical specimen, he can get a lot stronger and he has a lot scope. When you're talking about all-time Sun Devil swimmers, he could be at the top of that class for sure.
"He's already the second fastest 100 and 200 freestyler behind Troy Dalbey (1988-91) and Francisco Sánchez (1995-99) and he could be the best we have ever had on an international level. He can go as far as he wants to go. He has the potential and he's a great kid who wants to be better so it's really up to him."
