Self-coached SA swimmer is positive on Team SA and LA 2028
By Lauren Cohen
Capetonian Michael Houlie spends his mornings working at a university pool in the United States and his afternoons coaching himself through a programme he designed. In recent weeks, this combination produced a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, and another at the Pan Pacific Championships in California, in a 50m breaststroke field where the top four in the world were separated by hundredths of a second. Houlie also broke the championship's 50m split record in his 100m breaststroke heat, scratching the final to recover for his main event. "It's exciting to see the level that I'm competing at, and get positive feedback," he said.
Ten years in and the best team spirit yet
Houlie, 26, has been swimming competitively for a decade, a career built on playing water polo during his high school years at Bishops Diocesan College. He committed to swimming exclusively in 2016 – late by the standards of his rivals but fast enough to make it count. His commitment resulted in a full swimming scholarship at the University of Tennessee, where he earned All-American honours every year of his college career and medalled at both conference (SEC) and national (NCAA) championship level while completing a Business Science degree. Alongside his American college career, Houlie has been South African senior champion every year since 2018. With three Commonwealth Games, an Olympic Games and multiple World Championships behind him, he has a long yardstick to measure his current teammates against. "The current team spirit is the best I have experienced in 10 years," he said. "The Commonwealth Games showed that this team can produce individual and relay medals and I am excited for next year's World Champs in Budapest – we will all perform even better."
That relay strength is built on individual performances. Pieter Coetzé, Aimee Canny, Erin Gallagher, Kaylene Corbett, Olivia Nel and Ruard van Reenen have all put up swims that make South Africa's relays competitive against the best in the world. "It is beautiful to see how individuals are willing to push themselves for the team and for the country," Houlie said. His focus on the newly introduced 50m breaststroke event at LA 2028 pulls in the same direction: a faster breaststroke leg is what makes the medley relay perform as it did at the Commonwealth Games.
Building The Houlie Process
Houlie's current form can be traced back to a decision he made in December 2023, when, after missing selection for the Paris Olympics, he chose to take control of his own programme. "I was disappointed not to make the Olympics, but watching the Games was inspiring and fuelled me to resolve everything I was going through – the difficulties and the struggle in the initial phases. I had nothing to lose." The evidence came quickly. "After six months of self-coaching, I had developed a new approach, which I call The Houlie Process, or THP. When I'm operating at my best, I am loose and playful," he said. "I'm also process-driven as opposed to being outcome-driven and if I'm operating within that frame, anything is possible. In hindsight I probably should have made that change earlier. After another six months, I went to the World Championships in Budapest and made the final. I still believe I could have won that race."
The spirit revolution gains speed
Houlie's silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Championships came within a fine margin of gold, which the youngster is pragmatic about. "There's a lot of ways you can look at it. For me it's positive because it shows I'm getting better in finals, and closer to gold, and I know what to improve on." On his event of choice, there is no ambiguity. "The 50m breaststroke is my main focus. That's my baby. Everything else I do is in preparation or falls in line with doing my best in the 50m at the LA Olympics."
Almost three years on, #THP has been a massive success: silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Championships, an African record and second in the world. He is clear that there is more to come – better performances and faster times. The senior 50m breaststroke record took him longer: it belonged to Cameron van der Burgh, and it took Houlie seven years from his first senior season to finally break it at the Commonwealth Games. Since then, across three weeks of racing at the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific’s, he repeatedly beat his own mark.
The reality behind the results
Houlie has reached second in the world rankings while self-coached and working multiple jobs to cover his costs. Mostly self-funded, he has worked three jobs to keep his training and competition programme running. "The support from Sascoc and Bidvest is truly appreciated, but the reality of international swimming is that competing at the highest level requires a lot of funding for flights, visas and accommodation. I self-coach to help keep my costs down and have learnt to take full ownership, but would love the opportunity to be able to focus 100% on swimming like most of my international rivals."
A story that is writing itself
Houlie has already qualified for the World Short-Course Championships in Beijing in December, a meet he sees as important feedback against the Chinese swimmers he is yet to race before the Olympic qualifying window opens. The World Cup series in October will serve the same purpose the Mare Nostrum circuit did earlier this year, giving him rounds against Europe's best in the build-up to major championships. "The Commonwealth Games, where I raced world record holder Adam Peaty, and the Pan Pacs, where three of the world's top four lined up in the same final, are proof that I'm getting sharper with each meet against exactly the competition I will face at the Olympics." Beyond that lies the 2027 World Championships in Budapest and the Stroke 50 qualification in October 2027, crucial events within the Olympic qualifying window from 1 March 2027 to June 2028.
Beyond the results, Houlie frames the LA 2028 goal in terms bigger than himself. "For any athlete, the goal is to win an Olympic gold medal. But for me, the goal is to serve. I wouldn't necessarily say it's about me; it is about what it can do for South Africa." It is a sentiment that has followed him since his Youth Olympic gold in Buenos Aires in 2018, when he became the first South African swimmer of colour to win the title, and one that will carry him into the two years of racing that stand between him and a shot at the sport's first-ever 50m breaststroke Olympic champion.
Houlie said he would welcome additional sponsors to be part of #THP for the next two years. "But until that arrives, I will keep doing whatever needs to be done, improving #THP and staying loose and playful."
Photo credits: Getty Images (Oli Scarff and Adam Pretty)
