Senior Kate Douglass traveled to the Buenos Aires 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, where top athletes from around the world competed on an elite scale. She participated in the games from October 6-11, and placed 6th in the women’s 200 Long Course Meters (LCM), Individual Medley, and the 50 LCM freestyle.

Douglass expressed that the Youth Olympics were an excellent learning experience. She had the opportunity to meet top-tier American athletes, learn about their sport, and cheer them on.

“This was so different from a regular meet. We weren’t just there to swim; we got to meet athletes from other countries and explore the Olympic Village,”  Douglass said.

Douglass worked her way up to international meets by competing at smaller scale tournaments. She is a National Age Group record holder in both the 13-14 year old and 15-16 year old girls 50 meter free, received a silver medal in the 4×100 freestyle at the 2018 Junior Nationals, and is a two-time New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) champion. She has collected several state records along the way. In the summer of 2017, she competed at the Junior World Championships, representing the U.S. Junior National team in the 200 Individual Medley. She recently announced her verbal commitment to swim for the University of Virginia next fall.

Douglass said, “Representing the United States is always an incredible experience. Everybody would start to stare when they saw our Team USA gear, which gave us such a feeling of pride to represent the U.S.”