EMILY Thomas has booked her ticket to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
After failing to qualify for the 100 metres backstroke by a gut-wrenching one-tenth of a second, the Gisborne swimmer was named in the 12-strong swim squad on Saturday.
Her selection came as Swimming New Zealand re-evaluated qualifying times
after the international ban on bodysuits in January.
It has been a roller-coaster of emotions for 19-year-old Thomas who, despite posting several personal bests at the national open championships last week, thought she had missed her chance to compete in the Games.
"I was really gutted after the 100 metres. I wanted to qualify. I was expecting to be faster than that but I let my nerves get to me," says Thomas who won her final with a time of 1.01.51.
"I knew the head coach was still trying to get a few of the up-and-coming swimmers into the squad, so there was still a little bit of hope but I was pretty gutted.
"I swam a second over my personal best, but that time was recorded in the illegal suits. This is the best time I have clocked in the new suits.
"The change has made a big difference. Towards the end of the race when you are dying, the illegal suits helped keep you on top of the water. Now my hips drop and everything goes downhill . . . it is a lot harder.
"But I am just stoked . . . so stoked to make the squad."
Thomas, who now swims with North Shore Swimming Club, is the youngest woman in the squad and the second-youngest competitor. To qualify, swimmers had to demonstrate a capability of a top-six finish in New Delhi.
"This has been my goal since I moved to Auckland last year. I have always been serious but last year I realised I could have the potential to go a lot faster. I wanted this year to be the year."
Thomas proved she was one of the best backstrokers in the country at the national champs, beating Bejing Olympian Melissa Ingram by 0.21 of a second in the 100 metres backstroke and smashing the New Zealand record in the 50 metres backstroke.
Thomas surpassed Olympian Elizabeth Coster’s record of 28.66, with a new time of 28.39. The 50 metres is Thomas’s strongest distance but she fell short of a Games qualifying time by 0.39 of second.
Life and study go on hold for Thomas, who is now all go until the Games in October.
Thomas already trains two hours every morning and evening, with an extra hour of dry land training most days.
On top of that, the swim squad is in camp in Auckland and is then away competing in Europe for most of June.
In August the squad will spend a month in the United States before another camp in Dubai just before the Games.
Thomas’s former coach Greg Meade said this was only the beginning for the dedicated swimmer.
“I don’t think by any means this will be the last major meet for Emily,” he said.
“She will definitely have London in 2012 in her sights and I believe she is more than capable of making that.
“It is a pretty good feeling to see her in the squad. I always believed she had the ability to make it. Emily was always pretty special — she really committed herself to the sport.”
Meade said Swimming NZ made the right move by re-evaluating qualifying times, which were set against world times 12 months ago when the illegal bodysuits were still being used.
“It is only coming to light now, how much impact these suits had on the swimming world.
“From what we have seen from the Australian open and New Zealand open, the times that have been set are proving very difficult for the majority of swimmers to reach now.”
• Gisborne could have another athlete competing in New Delhi, as archer Stephanie Croskery is well on her way to qualifying. Croskery is New Zealand’s No. 1 in the women’s open compound bow.
Gisborne’s last Commonwealth competitor was Michelle Hyland, who competed in the road race at the 2006 Melbourne Games.