World class swimmer Noemie Thomas will be competing close to home this week.
The Richmond teen will be in the familiar waters of the UBC Aquatic Centre for the 51st Annual Mel Zajac Junior International Canada Cup Swim Meet.
The four-day competition, which starts Thursday, has featured some of the world's best swimmers over the years including Olympic medalists Ryan Cochrane, Brent Hayden, Ryan Lochte, Grant Hackett, Lenny Krayzelburg, Dana Vollmer, Natalie Coughlin, and Park Taehwan.
This year's event will feature the entire Canadian National Team as it prepares for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland (July 23 - August 3) and the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia (August 21-25).
There will be a number of high profile swimmers to watch including Cochrane, a two-time Canadian Olympic medalist, American Olympians Missy Franklin, Rachel Bootsma, and Caitlin Levernz, as well as fourtime Olympian George Bovell from Trinidad and Tobago.
Thomas regularly trains out of UBC as part of National Swim Centre -Vancouver, working with coach Tom Johnson.
Last fall, the butterfly specialist accepted a full-ride scholarship from the University of California at Berkeley where she will be teammates with Franklin - winner of four gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Thomas is in her Grade 12 year at Magee secondary which offers a sports program for high level athletes and is short commute to UBC.
