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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-08-24, Page 13Moto courtesy of wuuam imams A photo of the bronze metal up -close. Photo courtesy of William Williams Michelle Williams with her family in Rio. From left to right - Guillermo Toro - Michelle's finance, Michelle, Lydia - sister, Emsie - mother, William - father. Wednesday, August 24, 2016 • Huron Expositor 13 Photo courtesy of Shirley Douglas Hilary Caldwell receiving her bronze metal. Olympic athletes are closer to home than you think Justine Alkema Clinton News Record There is a significant local coincidence for Goderich for the 2016 Olympics - two 25 year-old Olympian female swimmers, who both won bronze metals, have parents or grandparents in Goderich. The first Olympian is swimmer Hilary Caldwell. Although Hilary herself lives in White Rock, British Columbia, her grandparents, Derek P. and Shirley Doug- las, live right here in Goder- ich. They were extremely proud when they watched Hilary win bronze in the woman's 200 m backstroke in Rio. "It was an extremely close race," said Derek, her grandfather. Caldwell, who is 25, has been swimming for her entire life. She has won sev- eral titles in her career including bronze in the 2013 World Aquatics Champion- ships in Spain, bronze in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland and gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. Another Rio 2016 Olympic swimmer, Michelle Williams, has parents who live in Goderich named William and Emsie Williams. Michelle was a part of the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay team which won bronze. Also on this team was 16 year-old teammate Penny Oleksiak who won four metals in Rio. "We sat with Hilary Cald- well's parents in the stands at the moment their daugh- ter also won a bronze metal," recalled William, who noted that the connection with Goderich was quite special, with Hilary's grandparents also living in this community. Michelle started swim- ming at the age of 10 with the North York Aquatic Club (NYAC) where the family use to live before moving to Goderich in 2012. Michelle attended Ohio State University, and after she graduated, she decided that she "still had a bit of swimming left in her," according to her dad. She has spent the last two years training full-time at the new PanAm pool in Toronto under world-renowned coach Ben Titley at Swim- ming Canada's High Perfor- mance Centre in Ontario. She also has a number of other titles to her name, including winning gold in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay at the 2015 Pan American Games and bronze in both the 4 x 100 m freestyle and medley relays at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. "We are very excited and very proud," said William. For an event like swim- ming, 25 tends to be on the "older end" of the athletes. For this reason, both women will likely not complete in the Olympics four years from now. However both women can now say they are Olym- pic metal holders, a title they have fought long and hard for.