Richmond's 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 final, 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 (a medal) 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.
