14, he placed second in the 200-meter breaststroke. The next year in 1946, he placed sixth in both the AAU National Indoor and Outdoor Championship 220y/200M breaststroke behind Joe Verdeur, Charles Keating and his future coach, James Counsilman. He enrolled at the University of Iowa for the 1947-1948 school year and was coached by both David Armbruster and his assistant coach James Counsilman. He was not allowed to compete as a freshman, however, due to conference eligibility rules at that time. He did, however, participate in the U.S. Olympic Trials in July 1948 placing seventh in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:47.7. The following year, Bowen moved up the standings finishing third in the AAU Outdoor Championships 200 m breaststroke behind Keith Carter and Joe Verdeur the previous years' Olympic silver and gold medalists. His first international competition came in 1950 as part of the American national swim team in several dual meets held in Japan. This was the first time the American swim team had defeated Japan on Japanese soil. At the dual meet in Tokyo, Bowen set the world record in the 100 m breaststroke(long course) in 1:09.4 barely edging out his teammate Robert Brawner.> Later that year, he was second in the National AAU Outdoor Championships in the 220 yard breaststroke to Robert Brawner. In 1951, he won a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:47.6 and a gold in the medley relay at the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires. At the 1951 National AAU Outdoor Championships in the 200 m breaststroke, Bowen was second to John Davies but ahead of Robert Brawner, third and Jerry Holan, fourth. After a fourth place finish behind John Davies, Jerry Holan, and Robert Brawner at the NCAA finals in 1952 in the 200 yard Breaststroke, his Big Ten rival and friend, John Davies tipped off Bowen that his training regimen needed to be improved with several adjustments. As a result of these training adjustments, he qualified first overall at the 1952 US Olympic Trials beating both Brawner and Holan and breaking Joe Verdeur's American citizen record with a time of 2:36.0 in the 200 m breaststroke. At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, he qualified for the finals of the 200 m breaststroke. While on the starting blocks of the finals, the cold air caused his muscles to tense up. In