Richmond swimming standouts Luke Reilly and Noemie Thomas will be making a splash for Canada at this summer’s Pan American Games in Toronto.
The pair turned in outstanding performances at last week’s National Trials to be among 36 swimmers nominated for the Canadian team. Reilly dominated the individual medley events — winning the 200 and 400 metre races. Thomas, a butterfly specialist, captured the 100 metre event and was second over 50 metres.
The Pan American Games are slated for July 10-26. The swimming events will take place at the Pan Am Sports Centre which hosted the National Trials. Thomas will also be representing Canada at the FINA World Championships in Russia — July 24-Aug. 9.
The 19-year-old Cal-Berkeley University freshman entered the Trials looking to bounce back from the 2014 event when ankle injury slowed her progress and eventually kept her off the Canadian teams headed to the Worlds and the Commonwealth Games.
She wasted no time in securing her national team status this time, capturing a thrilling 100 fly race by edging Canadian record holder Katerine Savard — 58.17 seconds to 58.18. Both were under the world qualifying standard.
‘’It was the last couple of strokes that made the difference for me,’’ said Thomas. ‘’I just wanted to make the team so bad. After missing the cut last year it was great to come back and validate what I’ve been doing all season.’’
Thomas was fresh off helping Cal-Berkeley capture the NCAA championship that included being a member of the winning 4x50 medley relay team.
Reilly secured his spot on the Pan Am team spot by showing he is the top medley swimmer in the country. The UBC standout won the 400 metre by nearly two seconds and added the 200 title on the final day of the trials with a clocking of 2:01.57.
