Wake County sisters compete for spot on US Olympic team
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Two Wake County sisters are headed to the U.S. Olympic qualifier for the national swimming team in just a few days.
They've been practicing for hundreds of hours year round and now that it's time to finally put their skills to the test, they say the competition is on.
Hannah Moore, 19, is a swimmer and student athlete at NC State University. She is competing at the Olympic qualifier alongside her teammates, but she's also competing alongside her sister.
Her younger sister, Kate Moore, 17, goes to Green Hope High School and swims for the Marlins of Raleigh.
Both will be headed to Omaha, Nebraska, in a couple of days to vie for a chance to go to Rio de Janeiro and swim in the summer Olympics.
"There's so much work that goes into it," Hannah said. "Swimming, cross training, weightlifting all in preparation for races that last seconds to minutes."
"It's a crazy experience. It's not very common that people our age get to swim with the greatest athletes in the world. And so it would be kind of cool if people would realize that we're swimming amongst Olympians.
The two will actually face each other in competition for the 200-meter backstroke, but no matter what happens, both ladies said they're super proud of their sister nonetheless.
"I like to compete with her, but I also know that she's my sister and I love her more than anyone in the world," Hannah said. "So I know that at the end of the day, if she beats me it's because she deserves it and I'll always be there for her."
"It's just going to be really fun to be in the coolest meet I will ever swim in, alongside my best friend," Kate said. "It's just going to be something that's just so fun and something that we'll get to remember forever."
Kate said she is very excited to have qualified for the meet, and that it took her and her family by surprise.
"I knew I had like a chance of getting it, but I wasn't really that confident that I was going to actually get the cut," she said. "And so I went into the race thinking this could go either way, and I ended up finish .02 second below the cut, so I just got it, and so I was thrilled. I was just so excited."
Hannah said watching this moment unfold while rooting for her sister in the stands, made her very emotional.
"I watched her swim and it just brought me so much happiness to know that she had been working so hard and she finally reached her goal," Hannah said. "And it's going to be really, really exciting to be able to compete with her there."
The Moore sisters will compete against hundreds of people for a coveted spot on the national team.
