Pelham native and elite swimmer Kate Douglass will test her swimming skills against the world's best at the upcoming Olympic games in Tokyo.

Ever since she was young, Douglass was always the fastest in the pool..

Whether setting records at the Westchester County Swimming Championships or winning a Section One title as an eighth grader, Douglass was elite.

Now at 19 years old, her success in the water hasn't slowed down. In fact, it's sped up.

She recently qualified for Team USA at the upcoming Olympics.

A huge final 50 meters propelled Douglass to second place, touching just 200 hundredths of a second behind winner and Virginia teammate Alex Walsh.

Her Olympic moment might not have been possible if the games were last summer. Unfortunately, her parents won't be able to attend because fans are banned from Tokyo arenas.

The pandemic gave her more time to train while at school.

Douglass said, "I definitely think for me the extra year of training at Virginia definitely helped because I had already seen a lot of improvement after one year of training there so just having a whole 'nother year really added to that."

She said the support she's received from those in Pelham has been amazing.