Michelle Williams is one of the four High Performance Centre – Ontario athletes coached by Ben Titley who qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics and will be competing as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay team.
Williams finished fourth behind her teammates Penny Oleksiak, Chantal Van Landeghem, and Sandrine Mainville in order to grab that relay qualification.
At the touch Williams was a 54.45 to clock in just shy of her personal best time of 54.21 from last years’ Canadian team trials.
Collectively the team has a very strong chance at earning a medal in Rio. By stacking up their best flat-start times, they already go a 3:35.20 which is more then a second faster than the Canadian record time of 3:36.44. That time would have placed them fourth at the World Championships, moving them up one placement.
- Penny Oleksiak: 53.31
- Chantal Van Landeghem: 53.83
- Sandrine Mainville: 53.85
- Michelle Williams: 54.21
If you take into account the fact that they’d be faster with a relay start, they’re definitely in medal contention. Last summer, the American women took home the bronze with a 3:34.61.
If you take just 0.4 seconds off three of the Canadian swimmers’ times (a flying start is usually roughly 0.6 seconds faster) the Canadian team puts up a 3:34.00.
With a little bit more speed and some more improvement off the flying starts it’s likely they could get into the 3:33-high range come Rio which would make them one of the best teams worldwide.
To see coach Titley’s comments on the relay watch the video below:
In late 2007 I was at a meet & the British coaching team positioned themselves around me because I had the best vantage point (I got there first & like Germans at a Euro beach I patriotically kept my deck chair & didnt even go to go to the kiosk ).
They were very very serious filming stuff , taking copious notes.
Man -major intense. 20 years before I sat with the DDR team at the same meet , same seats & the DDR were like quite friendly & I understood their German better than I did the British’s English .
You have more wisdom in one sentence than the entire SwimSwammers have in their collective blah blah..
Speaking from a person who was born, raised, train and educated in Ontario…..Titley is a breath of fresh air and has more than proven himself, in and out of Canada.
Getting a 16 yr old in 1-2 yrs to 2 Canadian records and being top 10 in the world! Give me a break!
If you are referring to Penny, Ben coaches her…and really it was Bill O’toole who developed her from relative obscurity to 58.4. 100 fly and a sub 2min 200 free, 54 100 free last summer.
So credit where its due here is to O’toole – a 15 yr old can make the entire center look good (Didn’t the other 3 girls in the 100 Free NOT do their best times from a year ago?? STATS
I think that Ben will do a great job leading into the Olympics but facts are facts…the HPCOntario did not do very well at all (Funk/Chetrat/Lecroix/Mainville all disappointing – Vanlandenham not best 100 Free by quite a bit…etc.) Whats the excuse? Not enough… Read more »
Unproven? He came to Canada with a long pedigree, Google him.
Thank you Captain Ontario. Believe me he is amazing. Emily is incredibly happy. And its a whole program. Not just Andi. Amber the biomechanist is with the kids every day. Every single race is videotaped and played back for them after. Access to a sports psychologist if needed. You can either believe it or not. We love it.
Andi is still unproven…
True. Although he is proven in the UK. And if he isnt given the chance then he cant prove himself. Which also isnt fair. As a parent I love the program. Is Emily making teams? No. But she also isnt a true HP swimmer. And if non of the true HP swimmers give him a chance then he cant prove himself. Emily seized the opportunity and we are incredibly happy. Up to others to either take the chance or not.
I’ll rephrase that then
Unproven in CANADA
I hope this coach has got a house, mortgage and young kids in schools here. We need him to put down roots in Toronto.
He truly is an amazing coach and person. My daughter swims for OSA and they train alongside the national HPC swimmers most practices. Ben Titley and Andi Manley are good friends. They are both great. Its a great environment and he takes time to interact with the OSA kids. Its inspirational for them. If more people would embrace the OSA program the future for Canadian swimming could be even better.