MORGANTOWN — South American-born brothers Daniel and Christian Hammer have settled into life in Morgantown after moving to the Mountain State a little over two years ago.
Originally born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (slightly north of Rio De Janeiro), the two siblings moved to West Virginia to be closer to their mother, who had moved to town to attend WVU and study for her doctoral degree.
The brothers have been swimming since they were children and said they started to see their interest in the sport grow around the same time at the ages of 12 (Daniel) and 10 (Christian). They are now both key members of the Morgantown High swimming team.
“We started swimming when we were children, but not always in competition back in Brazil,” Daniel, the eldest brother, said. “We were on the same team together also, maybe not always in the same group based on our ages but we’ve always been swimming together.”
Christian said it didn’t take long for him to notice the difference in practice and preparation when it came to competitive swimming once he began taking it seriously.
“I hadn’t put much thought into swimming competitively at all when I first began,” Christian, the younger brother, said. “Once we started competing and changing the way we practiced for meets and stuff, I felt like I could go somewhere with swimming one day if I worked hard.”
Moving to Morgantown has also expanded the pair’s opportunities in the pool.
“In Brazil, swimming isn’t supported in colleges or universities,” Daniel said. “So we thought that it would also be a good chance for us to be able to go to college and swim at the same time. Even with the school season there, we only swim once or twice a month, whereas here we swim all the time and are constantly in the pool with other swimmers.”
Christian mentioned how having his older brother on the team helps him every day.
“I enjoy having my brother as a teammate a lot,” he said. “Especially when we first moved to America, having someone that could speak my native language (Portuguese) when I needed to was good for me.”
Daniel echoed his brother’s words with a humble admission.
“He was younger but always faster than me,” he said. “So it was nice to have someone to always practice with to help push me to constantly improve in the pool. On days that we don’t have practice or anything, like Sunday, I’m always pushing him to go swimming and to help me with some things.”
The two have adapted quickly to the changes and are now a crucial part of the swimming team at MHS.
“These two have been very supportive of everyone on the team, boys and girls since they arrived,” MHS coach Eric Householder said. “They been great about working constructively with their teammates and have helped us build a very strong relay team that they are a part of.”
The next chance for the Hammer brothers and MHS to take the pool will be in the Regional Swim Meet on Feb. 3 at Brooke High School.
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