South Jersey sisters set to make a big splash at 2024 U.S. Olympics Swimming Trials
HADDONFIELD, N.J. (CBS) -- A pair of South Jersey sisters will compete against each other and the rest of the field for a coveted spot on the U.S. Olympic team this week in Indianapolis.
Older sister Lilly Derivaux will be a junior at Yale in the fall where she's studying study cognitive science and younger sister, Audrey Derivaux, just 14 years old, just completed her freshman year at Haddonfield Memorial High School.
"Lilly and I have always been very competitive," Audrey Derivaux said. "I've loved racing Lilly throughout all my years when we were both on Jersey Wahoos."
"I just remember when Audrey was very little kind of just giving her some lessons, kind of just teaching her how to swim. Tried to help her as much as I could and there's so many races where we would swim next to each other," Lilly Derivaux said. "She was a lot younger at the time so I would still be beating her but we've always just been so competitive."
The sisters won't be in direct competition to start. They both qualified in the 200 Fly, but Lily swims on Wednesday while Audrey will be a little busier, swimming on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
"Currently, I have cuts in the 100 back, 200 back, 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 200 IM and 400 IM," Audrey Derivaux said.
"I probably won't be next to Audrey because she's seeded two seconds ahead of me but that would be the best time in the world if we were by any chance in the same heat," Lilly Derivaux said.
But for all the talk of competing against each other, this is really a story about family and supporting one another. That's why, no matter what happens in Indy, they've already won.
"I've always just loved watching Audrey race and when she really started taking off, it just made me so excited," Lilly Derivaux said. "Even though I'm only swimming one of the days, I'm 100% going to be there on the pool deck, behind her lane, cheering her on as much as I can."
"When I was younger just watching my big sister swim, it was so inspiring, I just wanted to be like her when I was younger. And now, watching her swim at Olympic trials, it's just going to be the most amazing experience and I can't wait."
Audrey Derivaux tied for 24th in the Women's 100M Butterfly on the first day of the Olympic trials Saturday.
