A sports-themed edition of the Richmond Review, which includes coverage of the annual Richmond Sports Awards
Friday, May 23, 2014
Diminutive swimmer Noemie Thomas on the fast track as one of Canada’s up-and-coming elite by Don Fennell Sports Editor
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diminutive dynamo is The Richmond Review Sportsperson of the Year. Noemie Thomas, 18, was among many local athletes and volunteers recognized at the 15th annual Richmond Sports Awards and Recognition Banquet Thursday at R.A. McMath Secondary. The awards is an annual presentation of The Richmond Review, Richmond Sports Council and the City of Richmond, with support from McMath’s leadership students. An in-depth recap of the award winners begins on Page 21. At 17, Thomas was the youngest swimmer at the 2013 senior world championships in Barcelona, Spain last July. She emerged from the elite competition seventh in the women’s 100-metre butterfly, a result that helped earn her swimmer of the year honours from Swim Canada. At only five-foot-four, Thomas is unique in a sport where tall is more often than not the norm. “Honestly, it’s not something I ever think about because it’s not something I can change,” she says. “I’ve swam most of my swimming career as someone on the shorter end, so I don’t have anything to compare it
to. I just focus on what I have and what I can control, and get better the way I know how. I focus on comparing myself to myself, not someone who is six-foot-three because that’s just not realistic.” Though Thomas has been in the pool most of her life, she was also a ballerina. She ultimately gave up ballet for swimming when she realized it wasn’t realistic to try to be world class in both. “I knew in order to achieve that goal I had to choose,” she says. Clearly, she made the right choice. “I love so many things about swimming,” says Thomas. “If I could make it a course for everyone at school I totally would because I think everyone can benefit from it one way or another. You just learn so much about yourself and how to carry yourself in life. The physical part is a love-hate relationship where you push yourself for weeks on end and lack sleep and rest. But it’s the days when you pull something amazing, when you feel you can’t even walk, that makes it really empowering.”
At 17, Noemie Thomas was the youngest swimmer at the 2013 senior world swimming championships last summer in Barcelona, Spain where she placed seventh in the women’s 100-metre butterfly.
Continued on page 21
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