Karine Thomas is the lone holdover from the 2012 Olympic synchro team that narrowly missed the podium in London, finishing fourth. After competing at the World Junior Championships in 2006, Thomas joined the national team in 2007 and made her debut at the FINA World Championships that year. She helped the team to fourth place finishes at the next two world championships. She was also a member of the team that won gold at the 2011 Pan Am Games.

After a lot of turnover on the national team post-London 2012, Thomas began competing in the duet competition in 2013. In 2015 she and Jacqueline Simoneau won duet gold at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, where they were also part of the gold medal-winning team. She went on to compete in both duet and team at the 2015 FINA World Championships. The duet got their ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where they finished in 7th place. The pair swam together for the last time at the 2017 Canadian Open as Karine announced her retirement afterwards (read press release here).

• Family: Parents Ian Thomas and Martine Valin… Younger brother Jean-Philippe… Both parents were national team water polo players… Her father missed competing at Moscow 1980 due to the Canadian team boycott… Grandmother Esther Blais-Valin was a synchronized swimmer in the 1940s-50s… 
• Getting into the Sport: First saw synchro on TV from Atlanta 1996; was intrigued by the beauty, grace, costumes and makeup… Started synchro at age 10… Moved to Montreal at age 14 to train with an elite club… 
• Outside Interests: Enjoys cooking and baking… Loves watching Food Network… Likes to see movies and savor sushi.
• Future aspirations: Is working towards a Master’s degree in marketing and hopes to work in that field later.
• Odds and Ends: Collects fridge magnets during her travels…
• Favourite motto: “Believe what you can and you’re halfway there”
• Why she loves Synchro: Karine Thomas likes synchronized swimming for the friendships created with her teammates.