Q&A with Kristen Moores

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Junior Kristen Moores and the Virignia swimming and diving teams return to action next Saturday (Nov. 7) with a dual meet at home against Kentucky. Diving is scheduled to being at 10 a.m. with swimming events starting at approximately 11 a.m. at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. Moores recently sat down with VirginiaSports.com to talk about the Virginia Tech meet last Wednesday, her schedule as both a swimmer and ROTC cadet and her future career plans.

Question: How was the Virginia Tech meet?
Moores: It felt really good, especially to be performing that well as a team that early. I think it kind of made a statement as far as where we want to be this year within the ACC and throughout the country as a whole. The way we swam this early in the season is one of the best dual meets we’ve had in awhile, at least starting out the year, so I think it’s looking good for us.

Question: What are your impressions of the team and new members so far?
Moores: I love the first-year class. I think we’re mixing really well which is great for us, because sometimes I think teams can tend to have divisions between upper and lower class and I think we all get along really well. They’ve been a great addition to the team for us, so I don’t think we have anywhere to go but up right now.

Question: Do you consider yourself more of a leader this year, being an upperclassman?
Moores: I hope so. I kind of just go with the flow, help out where I can and support my teammates. I just do what’s best for the team, and if that puts me in a leadership position, that’s great.

Question: How did you get started swimming?
Moores: When I was like five, my parents put me in swim lessons. They wanted all of us to be on a team for just a year or two, just so we were comfortable with the water. Most of my family actually did keep swimming for a couple years but I was the only one that kept doing it all the way to college.

Question: What was the appeal of UVa to you?
Moores: I loved everything about this place. I think the best thing about UVa is that it’s a really good combination of everything – academics, swimming, and just the overall atmosphere. I actually came here kind of tentative, just wanted to see what it was like, wasn’t really sure, and I just fell in love with this place on my recruiting trip. When I got back, I was just like, ‘I’ve got to go here.’

Question: What has the ROTC program meant to you and how did you get involved?
Moores: Both my parents are active duty and I actually come from a pretty military-oriented family. I guess we’ve all kind of been raised in the sense that you should give back to your country in one way or another. I really would like to go into intelligence and I am majoring in foreign affairs. Just looking into it before I even started school, I thought it lined up well with a lot of the things the Army is doing. It just worked out really well for me as far as a career path and it seemed like something I really wanted to do.

Question: As a cadet, what is your schedule like?
Moores: They’re actually a little lenient with me because I’m a swimmer. In your third year, it’s usually physical training twice a week in the mornings and then a lab and a class for two hours on Tuesdays and two hours on Thursdays. Usually the cadre works around class for me and I can make up class on my own so I can come to practice and they don’t really worry about the PTA for me because of swimming. This year as a third year, I kind of step into more of a leadership position, so I actually work with Mark to try to get in the class and the lab so I can really start to learn what I need to know. We go to a camp at the end of our third year where you kind of get graded on everything you learn, and so this year I kind of want to step it up and focus on it. So basically it’s a class and a lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I try to work around that.

Question: How was the airborne training? Fun, hard, challenging, all those things?
Moores: All those things, but I would lean more into the fun direction. I was really nervous going into it because I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I got there it was a really good group of people. I ended up getting lucky because I was in platoon that had kind of the more laid back sergeant and we kind of had fun with it. The training was pretty chill compared to the other groups. I would say leading up to the jumping. The motto for everyone’s school is “hurry up and wait,” so there was a lot of standing around, a lot of repeating the same exercises, but when you finally get to jump out of a plane and looking back on it, it’s definitely a cool experience.

Question: So you’re not afraid of heights?
Moores: Well, a little bit. Every time I opened the door I kind of freaked out a little bit, especially because I was usually near the front. You kind of stand there for a little bit before you jump where you see out the door and you’re like, ‘I’m about to run out of this plane!’ I’d really like to do high altitude jumps but maybe if they open the door at 12,000 feet rather than 1,200 I’d be a little more scared.

Question: What do you like to do in your spare time?
Moores: Sleep! I just like to hang out with the team or hang out with my sister, she’s a first year here, and catch up on things. Usually I probably should be doing work, but I’m doing other things.

Question: What has been your favorite class at UVa?
Moores: I’m actually in it right now. It’s Anti-Terrorism and World Intelligence with Professor Hitz. I’m going to sound like a huge nerd right now, but when I saw that class in the COD before I even came here, I knew I was going to take that class, and I finally got into it this semester. I love it and think it’s awesome.

Question: So your interest in the whole intelligence thing is just your way of giving back to the country?
Moores: In a way. It actually really fascinates me too. I think the Middle East is really cool. The whole thing going on with everything we’re starting right now as far as Islamic terrorism is really interesting and I’d like to be a part of it, of trying to figure that out.