Emily Thomas (swimmer)

Thomas claimed the silver medal in the 50 metre backstroke at the 2006 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After clocking a 30.31 in the heats, Thomas progressed to the semi-final where she swam a 29.92. In the final, Thomas finished in a time of 29.58 behind Yanxin Zhou of China.^[1] Thomas narrowly missed out of the final in the 100 metre backstroke with a time of 1:04.65. The race was eventually won by compatriot Natalie Wiegersma.^[2] She also competed in the 200 metre backstroke finishing with a time of 2:19.39

Thomas made her senior international debut at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships held in Irvine, United States. In the heats of the 50 metre backstroke, Thomas swum a 28.49 to make the A Final where she finished third in a three way tie along Fabiola Molina and Rachel Bootsma.^[3] Thomas was the first New Zealand swimmer to finish on the podium at this meet since 1997 when Trent Bray finished third in the 200 metre freestyle individually, and the men's 4x100 and 4x200 metre freestyle relays also claimed the bronze medal.^[4]

Thomas additionally made the B Final in the 100 metre backstroke following her heats swim of 1:01.55. In the final, she finished fifth in a time of 1:01.93, she also raced the 50 metre freestyle but did not progress with a time of 26.95.^[3]

At the 2010 Commonwealth games held in Delhi, India, Thomas competed in both the 50 and 100 metre backstroke. In the 50 metre backstroke, Thomas qualified for the final following a heat swim of 29.17 and a semi-final swim of 28.85. She finished in seventh place in the final with a time of 29.02. In the 100 metre backstroke, she progressed to the semi-final following a heat swim of 1:01.77 and finished fifth in the semi-final in a time of 1:01.58.^[5]

Thomas is the New Zealand current record holder in the 100 metre long course backstroke with a time of 1:00.22 set in 2009.