Michael Houlie (born 27 June 2000) is a South African swimmer.[2] He competed in the men's 100 metre breaststroke at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships.[3] In 2019, he represented South Africa at the 2019 African Games held in Rabat, Morocco.[4] He also competed in the men's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[5]

Michael Houlie
Michael Houlie (right) and Alexander Milanovich with their 2018 Summer Youth Olympics medals in the 50-meter breaststroke
Personal information
NationalitySouth African
Born (2000-06-27) 27 June 2000 (age 24)
Cape Town, South Africa
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
College teamUniversity of Tennessee[1]
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  South Africa
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gold Coast 4×100 m medley
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Casablanca 50 m breaststroke
Gold medal – first place 2019 Casablanca 4×100 m mixed medley
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Casablanca 100 m breaststroke
African Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Bloemfontein 50 m breaststroke
Silver medal – second place 2016 Bloemfontein 100 m breaststroke
Universiade
Silver medal – second place 2019 Naples 50 m breaststroke
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Buenos Aires 50 m breaststroke

2022

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Houlie achieved a 2022 World Aquatics Championships and 2022 Commonwealth Games qualifying time in the 50 metre breaststroke with a gold medal-winning time of 27.22 seconds at the 2022 South Africa National Swimming Championships.[6] While his time did achieve the qualifying standard, he was not automatically qualified for the World Championships team as swimmers were required to qualify in Olympic events per the selection criteria.[7] Upon completion of the Championships, Swimming South Africa named him as a qualifier for both the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games in the 50 metre breaststroke.[8][9]

Day two of swimming at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, conducted in July and August in Birmingham, England, Houlie ranked twelfth in the preliminaries of the 100 metre breaststroke, qualifying for the semifinals with his time of 1:01.62.[10] In the semifinals, he placed twelfth with a time of 1:01.24 and did not qualify for the event final.[11] Two days later, he swam a time of 27.10 seconds in the preliminaries of the 50 metre breaststroke, tying Adam Peaty of England for overall first-rank and qualifying for the semifinals.[12][13] He ranked third overall in the semifinals, second in his heat behind Sam Williamson of Australia, with a time of 27.39 seconds and qualified for the final.[14][15] He finished 0.04 seconds behind bronze medalist Ross Murdoch of Scotland in the final, with a time of 27.36 seconds, to place fourth.[16][17]

At the 2022 U.S. Open Swimming Championships, held in Greensboro, United States, Houlie competed representing the University of Tennessee and helped win a silver medal in the 4×100 metre medley relay on day two, splitting a 50.96 for the freestyle leg of the relay to contribute to the final time of 3:43.44.[18] The following day, he placed fifth in the final of the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:02.08.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Michael Houlie Bio". SwimSwam. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Michael Houlie Swims Fastest-Ever Youth Olympics 50 & 100 Breast". SwimSwam. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  3. ^ "18th FINA World Championships 2019: Men's 100m Breaststroke start list" (PDF). FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Swimming Results Book" (PDF). 2019 African Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Swimming HOULIE Michael". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  6. ^ SwimSA TV (9 April 2022). "National Aquatics Championships 2022 Day 4". YouTube. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  7. ^ Jonckheere, Karien (9 April 2022). "18-year-old matric pupil stuns Olympic superstar Tatjana Schoenmaker at SA swim champs". News24. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Sates wraps up SA Championships with fourth national title". Swimming South Africa. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  9. ^ du Plessis, Lindsay (9 June 2022). "Le Clos, Schoenmaker named in South Africa Commonwealth Games squad". ESPN. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 100m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary". Longines. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 100m Breaststroke Semi-Finals Results Summary". Longines. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  12. ^ Burnard, Lloyd (1 August 2022). "Schoenmaker, Van Niekerk set for epic showdown as SA swimmers shine in Birmingham". News24. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  13. ^ "A Team England clean sweep as 14 swimmers progress to tonight's session". Swim England. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 50m Breaststroke Semi-Finals Results Summary". Longines. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Coetze, Gallagher claim silver as Team SA finish off stellar day at Commonwealth Games". News24. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 50m Breaststroke Final Results". Longines. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Golden girl Van Niekerk makes it two from two as SA swimmers rake in more medals". Swimming South Africa. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  18. ^ USA Swimming (1 December 2022). "2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  19. ^ USA Swimming (2 December 2022). "2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 100m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
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