The 22-year-old said she was unable to attend the award ceremony on Saturday as she gears up to hit the pool for Warrnambool Swimming Club in the Victorian countryshortcourse championships in Wangaratta this weekend.

“I didn’t actually go (to Melbourne), someone from Port Fairy told me I had won and I was really stoked to find out I had won,” Thomas said.

“I couldn’t make it because I was training for a race in Wangaratta this weekend so I thought I wouldn’t go all that way two weeks in a row.”

The recent Bachelor of Environmental Science graduate was happy with her 2017-18 season but had set her eyes on going up another level in her next summer campagin.

“I was stoked with my performance at the Aussies (Australian Lifesaving Championships) but there is still a bit I want to improve on,” she said. “Hopefully I can get another Aussie final in the swim and top 10 and then try and to get a go in a Nutri Grain round at some stage this year would be good and then an Aussie open ironwoman final as well.”

Thomas believes she is not far away from achieving her goals as she puts her head down and jumps back into her training after taking a break after the Aussies in April.

“I missed the ironwoman final by one spot last season with a bit of bad luck at the start of the race and hopefully I can get through the semi next year,” she said. “I got back in the pool a month after Aussies and then a month after that I was back on the ski and I’m doing those two at the moment.”

Fellow WSLSC members Matt Hardiman (open athlete), Brayden Casamento (youth athlete), Steve Kerr (coach) and Mike Vafiades (volunteer) were also nominated for awards.

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