You might say that Michelle Swan is a third generation bowler as both her mom Diane, who grew up in Newmarket, and her grandparents, Jim and Ruth Gibbons, bowled at the old Odeon Bowl on Davis Drive. Born in Toronto on August 20, 1968, Michelle grew up in Barrie along with her sister Cindy.
Michelle started bowling at the age of six in the Youth Bowling Council at Kempview Bowl, in Barrie. As she rose through the ranks, so did her average. As a Bantam her average was 168, as a junior, it rose to 201. By the time she finished Seniors, she was carrying a respectable 230 average. She was a member of the Huronia team that represented that zone in the Pepsi Challenge, which is today’s Youth Challenge. Michelle always qualified in the 4 Steps to Stardom as a single competitor, making the Provincials twice. It was during her tenure in the YBC that she was introduced to some very influential people. Her bowling coach was Hall of Famer, Helen McCallum and the Program Director was Bill Grant, a prominent fixture in the YBC for over thirty years. It was Bill that kept her interest in the youth program, as a teenager. Another prominent figure on the bowling scene was Hall of Famer, Tom Cowan. While maybe not realizing it at the time, Tom’s influence would have an effect on Michelle later on in life.
At the age of eighteen Michelle won the Master Bowlers Association (MBA) Bursary Tournament with an eight game total of 2,012 for a 251.5 average. This win enabled Michelle to join the tournament division of the Masters, originally representing Kempview Lanes in Barrie, then Stellar Lanes in Newmarket. Today she represents her home centre of Uxbridge Bowl, where, along with her husband Jeff, they are the Proprietors. Michelle has enjoyed twenty-two years and counting, seventeen on the tournament tour and five in the teaching division. On the tour, Michelle is part of a select few who have bowled over 1000 games with her lifetime average of 231. Overall, Michelle has three wins to her credit. Her first win was the Special Olympics tournament in 1994 followed by the Octoberfest Classic in 1997. Her third victory was the Mixed Doubles with another Hall of Famer, Shawn Morris.
In league play Michelle bowled in a number of leagues, including the ever-popular SLM league out of Stellar, winning numerous individual high average and high single awards. The SLM league holds a special memory for Michelle, as her dad, Glenn was also a member of the league. In fact the Glenn Swan Memorial award is presented in his honour to the Most Improved Bowler each year, an award that he won the year before he passed. Her personal best came while bowling in the Thursday Majors league in Toronto, where she averaged 254. A high single of 440 came during a Pro-Am qualifying tournament at Stellar.
For a change of pace, Michelle bowled in a couple of 10 pin leagues for a few years at Stellar. During league play she would accomplish a high triple of 732, with games of 269, 268 and 195. Representing Stellar in the 10 pin TSN Pins Game, Michelle went on to place fourth at the Provincial Finals.
In Open competition, Michelle holds the record for the most appearances for a female, under the York Simcoe banner, with 18, just two more than another of tonight’s inductee’s Pauline McNaught. As a youngster, Michelle couldn’t understand why her mother was always away on the Easter weekend at the Open. With her mother’s influence she qualified for her first Open at the age of 20. Not only did she qualify, Michelle was the Ladies singles representative for the Huronia Association, along with their Men’s single representative, Hall of Famer Al Snow. Once she got there, she was hooked. Fortunately for York Simcoe, she moved from Barrie to Aurora in 1989. In total, Michelle has been on the Ladies team five times, a Singles representative three times and a member of the Mixed team ten times. In fact, Michelle holds the record for being the only female to represent our zone three times at a National Championship. In 1990, she was a member of the winning Ladies team, with Hall of Fame bowler, Diane MacLeod and coach Jim Preston that represented Ontario at the Nationals, in Hamilton. Again in 1997, she represented Ontario, again as part of the Ladies team, winning Bronze in Calgary. Finally in 2002, she would represent York Simcoe as a member of the Mixed team that went to the Nationals in Winnipeg. In 2004, Michelle was part of the York Simcoe contingent that won the Aggregate Banner at the Provincial Championships in Hamilton.
As fate would have it, after a devastating half point loss in 1996 with the Ladies team, Michelle was consoled by a fellow bowler by the name of Jeff Canham. Shortly after, Michelle and Jeff settled in together in Newmarket. Today, the Canham’s and their children, Austin and Payton live in Mount Albert, where Michelle is kept busy watching Austin play rep ball and Payton playing soccer, while Jeff runs Uxbridge Bowl. As well, both Austin and Payton have continued on the family tradition as they both participate in the Uxbridge youth bowling program.
Michelle wanted to give something back to the sport that has given her so much. At the zone level, in 1993, Michelle was an executive on the Stellar Lanes Decentralized Association, a position she would hold for the next six years. In 2003 she would hold the position of vice-president for York Simcoe and was responsible for the bowling school. Michelle has attended the O5PBA Bowling School six times as a Pro. She was also a prominent player in building and growing the ever-popular Bingo Bowl fundraiser for the Open bowlers in York Simcoe.
We can be thankful, to Diane (Swan) Shanahan, for her support and having the faith in her daughter’s capabilities that have brought her to the York Simcoe Hall of Fame as a player.