Richmond teen Noemie Thomas made the most of her debut on swimming's biggest stage.
The 17-year-old qualified for Monday's final in the 100-metre butterfly at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, placing seventh. The event's youngest entry touched the wall in a time of 58.13, finishing just behind Canadian teammate
Katerine Savard (57.97) who was fifth. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, 19, won the gold medal in a time of 56.53, ahead of Australia's Alicia Coutts (56.97) and American Dana Vollmer (57.24).
"I think it's good for our development as we get higher into the rankings. Every step is a good experience. I think we learned a lot from this race," Thomas said. "I'm not so thrilled about the time but I'm really happy about how I just went in and tried my best."
Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson agreed.
"To have two Canadians swimming in the final is a great achievement. Both girls were in their first international final at the world level in the 50 metre pool. They may not be happy with their final positioning, but you've got to look at where they've come from and where they're going as they progress to (the 2016 Olympics) Rio," Atkinson said.
Thomas had earlier qualified for the final with the fifth fastest overall time. She trains with the UBC Dolphins Swim Club and his heading into her Grade 12 year at Magee secondary where she is enrolled in the school's sports program for elite athletes who need flexible schedule for training and competitions.
Thomas is part of a 34-member team (17 men, 17 women) Canadian team at the world championships. Action in the pool continues through Sunday.
