10 Reasons Why Having a Swim Sibling is the Best

Photo Courtesy: Emma Gresser

10 Reasons Why Having a Swim Sibling is the Best

By Emma Gresser, Swimming World College Intern

You may not get many heart-to-hearts at practice with your swim sibling, but having a sister or brother who knows the water like you do deepens the sibling bond. Here are 10 reasons why swim siblings are the greatest…

1. You have someone to vent to after a hard practice.

Swimmers are the only people who can actually understand another swimmer. So when you are super sore after the 3 x 1000s you swam for time, your sibling will get it.

2. There will always be someone to remind you of the set.

After your coach gets done explaining the incredibly complicated set, you and your sibling can put your heads together and figure out everything your coach just said. Then proceed to estimate how long the set will take and if you will have time to finish it.

3. You learn to overcome the jealousy bug.

There’s nothing more competitive than a sibling rivalry. You can’t let your little brother or sister beat you. Eventually, you will learn to be happy for your sibling’s success while pushing them to be better than the person they were yesterday.

4. You always have someone to pig out with after a swim meet.

After your big meet, there is no better person to split an ice cream sundae with to celebrate your hard work. The best part being there is no judging and no questions asked. You earned it.

5. Dinner conversations include who was riding your waves during the main set, how your coach was in a surprisingly good mood, and how you are so sore from weights that morning.

As you sit around the dinner table and gossip about practice, your parents might have no clue what you are talking about but your sibling does. You can trust your sibling to share the latest dirt on the team. Who likes who, the tattoo your coach just got and what swim meets are coming up.

Photo Courtesy: Baker Family

6. Run out of water during the main set? No problem. Just drink your sibling’s water.

There’s no time to get out during the main set. You share everything with your sibling anyways so why not take their water bottle? Same goes for all other equipment. There will always be plenty of goggles to go around.

7. You always have a partner for dryland workouts.

There is always the dread of an odd number. No swimmer wants to do dryland with their coach. It’s that same feeling in school when the teacher asks you to pick a partner. You look at your best friend (or sibling) and just know.

8. You have someone to call you out when you get the swimming blues.

Swimming is tough. Only few of us are called to this grueling sport. During the middle of your season, when all you want is taper, your sibling is there to give you encouragement. If they can get through it, you can too.

9. There will always be someone to celebrate with you during the good times and help you through the bad.

Your sibling sees you at your best and at your worst. They will always love you whether you went a best time or didn’t quite meet your goals. You will always have someone to take pictures of you on the podium or give you a big hug after you get DQ’ed.

10. You will always have a teammate, in the pool and in life.

Swim relationships are the best relationships. Swimmers are a different breed of people. Pushing your sibling in and out of the pool to be a better person will only make your relationship stronger. You will have someone to count on for the rest of your life. Someone who appreciates and supports the things you love and will love you for that. You learn if you can take on a tough practice together, you can take on the world together.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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