Eve Thomas is one of New Zealand’s brightest prospects in the pool and in the form of her life.
Based in Brisbane, the 21-year-old is rubbing shoulders with the likes of superstar Ariarne Titmus and is being trained by legendary coach Dean Boxall.
Yet her biggest competition is in her own family.
Thomas' mum, Sarah Thomas (nee Hardcastle), was a teen swimming sensation for Great Britain in the 1980s, becoming the youngest British woman to ever win an Olympic medal when she claimed silver in the 400m freestyle at Los Angeles 1984 aged just 15.
A bronze medal in the 800m freestyle followed, before two gold medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986.
Her time of 8:24.77 in the 800m freestyle to win gold in Edinburgh was the second-fastest ever recorded, and one that Eve is still trying to beat.
But she is edging closer.
Prior to the Olympics last year, Eve’s personal best was 13 seconds off her mum’s.
Barely nine months later, it’s down to just four.
Eve clocked 8:28.65 at the Auckland trials in April to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Her time was just 0.25s inside the qualifying time. The only New Zealander who has swum quicker is three-time Olympian Lauren Boyle.
Eve credits taking a break after the Olympics as having helped her rapid improvement.
“I actually took about 10 weeks out of the water off to reset [after Tokyo 2020], which I think really has contributed to how well in swimming at the moment. It really enabled me to kind of mentally reset.”
Likewise was being able to come back and train alongside the world’s best in distance swimming.
“It definitely makes you faster and makes you more motivated to train hard because you know that the standard is right in front of you. Where you want to be is swimming in the lane next to you. So it really reminds me of where I’m trying to get to and I think having that is such a privilege to be able to train with them,” Eve said.
Meanwhile, a bit of friendly competition is beginning to quietly simmer in the Thomas household as Eve continues to close the gap with Sarah.
“I’m getting closer pretty quickly so it’s getting exciting and I don’t know how she actually feels about that,” Eve pondered.
“I know she says in interviews in the past that she's excited and she'll celebrate when I beat it, but I know deep down she's very competitive and not going to be loving that.
“She's very, very friendly about it on the surface, but I think deep down it bugs her,” Eve said with a grin.
Eve has one of the fastest 800m times in the Commonwealth this year, and a potential medal in Birmingham beckons.
But she isn’t getting carried away just yet.
“I just want to swim the best I can and put my best performances forward, so my main goals are just doing personal best swims.
“There are other things like medals and finals that do come into play a little bit more, but I think it’s important for me to keep a focus on swimming my best rather than worrying about where I rank.”
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