Lori Ewing, THE CANADIAN PRESS

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TORONTO - Tyler Christopher was coming off a dismal showing at the Beijing Olympics, he'd done his soul-searching on a Mexican vacation, and was back on track looking to regain the form that propelled him to a world championship.

Then the ground fell out from under him.

Christopher's longtime coach and good friend Kevin Tyler was hired away by the British track and field program six months ago, and the 400-metre runner has been struggling to find his footing ever since.

The former world indoor champion and world outdoor bronze medallist ran 47.64 in the heats of the 400 metres at the Canadian track and field championships Friday, coasting down the final 100 metres at Varsity Stadium. His Canadian record is 44.44, his fastest time this season is 45.85 - not good enough to qualify for next month's world championships in Berlin.

"I didn't see it happening at all," Christopher said of Tyler's departure around Christmas. "My first reaction was I was kind of scared, I thought what the hell, that's where my whole career is, am I going, am I staying? I went through all the coaches I know in the States and I thought 'hell no.'

"It was kind of a shock. I was mad and frightened and all that kind of stuff, but in the end, when I got over my selfish thoughts, he made a great decision, I'm happy for him."

Daniel Harper ran 47.27 to head into Saturday's 400 final as the fastest qualifier.

Tyler's departure was part of an exodus of Canadian talent to Britain, as the British team gears up for the 2012 London Games.

Canadian Olympic triathlon coach Joel Filliol, who guided Simon Whitfield to a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, was hired as Britain's head triathlon coach, while Peter Eriksson, who helped wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc to five gold medals at the Paralympics in Beijing was scooped up by the British.

Tyler, who also coached Adam Kunkel, the Canadian record-holder in the 400-metre hurdles, and Carline Muir, one of Canada's top female 400 runners, was appointed the strategic head of coaching and development by UK Athletics.

"When (Tyler) first moved to Edmonton, I probably hung out at his house every second day with him and his family," Christopher said. "We were really close friends."

Christopher said he never considered moving to Britain with Tyler.

"Because he didn't offer," Christopher said with a half-hearted laugh. "I was kind of pissed about that, but I'm sure his job entitles something different, and he was kind of tired of it too. It's all right, it's whatever."

The 25-year-old Christopher bowed out in the heats at the Beijing Olympics, saying he had been struggling with a flu bug. The day after his race, he headed home to Chilliwack, then bolted for Mexico for a few weeks.

Christopher admitted he thought about simply packing it in after Tyler's departure.

"Those thoughts went through my head, yeah, it's a lot of work to change things, it was really chaotic, the whole group didn't really know what was going on," Christopher said.

Christopher decided to stick with Derek Evely as his coach, a former decathlete and good friend of Tyler's who had worked with the Edmonton-based group for several years.

"It was more like who I'd get along with, who I'd enjoy getting coached by and who I'd get along with," Christopher said on choosing a coach. "It was a hard choice, but it was simple too, it was staring me in the face. Derek was right there.

"I just listened to Derek and I just put my trust in Derek and everything has gone good so far."

Christopher said his slower times this season are due to a change in training philosophy from a speed-based program to one that emphasizes strength.

"With Kevin we worked mainly on technique and speed and we never really got away with that. We did that for all the years I was with him. And as the years went on, I kind of lost my strength and my base. We're building that back up," Christopher said.

To earn a trip to the Berlin world championships, Christopher needs to run the A qualifying standard of 45.55 by July 26.

"There's still a month away," he said. "I still have a few races. I really have to get the races in against a good field and really figure out where to push it."