Noemie Thomas was busy winning races and collecting hardware in Toronto last weekend.
The 17-year-old from Richmond was named Junior Female Swimmer of the Year, as part of Swim Canada's annual awards. Thomas still qualifies as a junior, but competed against the world's best at last summer's World FINA Championships, in Barcelona, Spain. She was the youngest entry in the 100-metre butterfly final where she finished seventh overall after qualifying with the fifth fastest time.
It was a performance that helped make her one of the top collegiate recruits on the planet and led to the Grade 12 student recently committing to the University of
California Berkeley on a full-ride scholarship offer.
Thomas also showed her talents in the pool with a pair of first place swims at the Canada Cup short course event.
She neared her Canadian record in the 50m fly for the win then, a few minutes later, was the lead-off swimmer in UBC's 4X50m freestyle relay golden performance.
Meanwhile, the Junior Male Swimmer of the Year also hails from Richmond.
Luke Reilly, who turned 18 Saturday, set a national age group record in his fifthplace finish in the 400m individual medley at the FINA World Junior Championships in Dubai. He also trains with Thomas out of UBC which is home to Swim Canada's National Swim Centre -Vancouver.
Reilly happens to be coached by former Richmond Olympian Brian Johns who was recognized for his efforts in bringing along the young athlete with the Swimming Canada/CSCTA Coach of the Year Award. Thomas' coach Tom Johnson was also among the recipients.
Both winners in the youth category also represented Canada at world juniors. Emily Overholt of Vancouver won a bronze medal in the women's 400m IM, setting a new Canadian age group record in the process. Meanwhile, Teddy Kalp of North York, ON, helped Canada to a fourth-place result in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, and also made individual finals in the 400m and 800m free.
In addition, six recipients of the Victor Davis Awards were announced. Each winner receives a bursary from the Victor Davis Memorial Fund, which was established to remember the four-time Olympic medallist, his contribution to competitive swimming in Canada, and to encourage other young Canadians toward excellence. Each year high performance Canadian swimmers receive bursaries to help them continue their training, education, and pursuit of international medals.
This year's winners include Emma Ball of Guelph, Ont., Marie-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivieres, Que., Kelly Aspinall of Nanoose Bay, B.C., Stephen Calkins of Calgary, Bryce Kwiecien-Delaney of Oakville, Ont., and Jon McKay of Victoria.
