Former Winskill Dolphins standout Noemie Thomas broke a national record three times en route to a near podium finish at the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
Thomas shaved her own national record down to 25.60 seconds in the 50-metre butterfly finals, but fell just 0.05 seconds outside the medals. The 16-year-old was still pleased with her fourth-place finish at her first ever senior international meet.
"It was really interesting, my first final at my first senior international competition. It was good, I'm happy with a best time," Thomas said. "Obviously 0.05, it's so close to get a medal for Canada but it's a learning experience."
In the qualifying heats, Thomas set the new Canadian mark with a clocking of 25.76 in her first race, then matched the time in the semi-finals. It bested the three-old record set by Victoria Poon.
"The goal coming in was just to have fun and see where I was at in my training," Thomas said. "I've been to the junior worlds and everything and it's similar but in its own ways (world short course) is different. Especially the (amount of) people here and the atmosphere was pretty nice. It was cool to walk through those doors."
Thomas began her competitive career with Winskill, working under former head coach Tom Rushton. She now trains with Vancouver-based parent team with coach Tom Johnson.
Earlier this year, the butterfly specialist took gold in the 100-metre fly at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii and was fourth at the 200-metre distance. She added a silver medal in the 4x1oo medley relay.
Her final tune-up for the World Championships saw her win four gold medals at a Canada Cup event in Toronto.
