By Ashley Rowe, & Lora Lavigne, WRAL anchor/reporter

The Olympic journey to Paris has a stop in the Triangle, where elite swimmers will spend the next week getting ready for the Olympic games.

On Saturday morning, fans lined up around the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary to watch.

Olympic swimmers train up close. Some had been there since before 4 a.m.

Outside the center was bustling with eagerly awaiting crowds, food trucks and a line that kept growing longer and longer as fans set up along the sidewalk to wait.

One little boy, a swimmer for The Marlins of Raleigh, was excitedly waiting for his chance to meet the heroes who have inspired his own swim journey.

“My favorite stroke is the butterfly,” said Sam, who was decked out in Team USA gear. “Because I’m a big fan of Michael Phelps.”

There are 46 Team USA Olympic swimmers — 26 men and 20 women.

They’ve been training right here in the Triangle for the past week. Triangle Aquatic Center is a world-class facility with three pools and is home to more than 1,200 TAC Titans swimmers year-round. State-of-the art technology inside and outside the pool elevates the experience for swimmers and spectators.

“We only get three holidays a year: Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s,” says TAC Facility Director Kenneth Tackett. Every other day of the year, the pools are open.

One of the most impressive features is the 5,000-square-foot fitness center filled with equipment for swimmers to build power for the pool. Team USA specially requested that new trap bars be added. They are used to work the shoulders and back.

“We can do a whole range of things with these bars from just a heavy rack pull,” said Tom Turner, TAC strength & conditioning coach.

At TAC, the workouts, Turner said, help swimmers “build some athletic skills, try and build up a tolerance so they can perform better in the pool.”

During meets, there are announcers to guide the action and the same kind of graphics, live streams and scoreboard as the Olympics and Olympic Trials.

Triangle Aquatic Center is all about setting swimmers up to perform their best. That reputation earned the confidence of Team USA as they prepare for Paris.

Source: wralsportsfan.com