Twins’ Adventures at the CeraVe Invitational

Photo Courtesy: Ella Walsh

By Emma Miller, Swimming World Intern.

Warmups for the Friday afternoon session of the 2017 CeraVe Invitational are underway in the choppy waters of Rutgers University’s Sonny A. Warblin Recreation Center pool. The red, white and blue caps of North Baltimore Aquatic Club swimmers bob up and down as two identical faces come up for breaths every other stroke.

No, you’re not seeing double: there really are two sets of twins in the water, and both of them swim for NBAC. Eleven-year-old identical twins Peter and Paul Shkolnik say that’s the worst part about being teammates: getting mistaken for one another.

“Some people can’t tell us apart, but most of our friends can,” said Peter.

Sitting side-by-side in the bleachers, the boys look like carbon copies of each other. It’s their personality that makes each boy distinct. Paul is bounding with energy, excitement latent in his voice; Peter, meanwhile, listens carefully to every question and is the more reserved of the two.

The brothers aren’t only identical in looks – they also swim the same events. Both Shkolniks swam in the 50 back and the 400 free on Friday afternoon. Peter clocked in at 37.02 in the 50 back, with Paul not far behind at 38.59. The 400 free saw Peter finish with a time of 5:20.54 and Paul with 5:31.46.

“If I beat Paul, he always gets kinda mad,” Peter said. (“No I don’t!” his brother chimed in defensively.)

Another set of twins on NBAC, 12-year-olds Brooke and Cameron Shinnick, are also feeling the heat of sibling rivalry.

“I hate it when she goes in front of me [in practice],” Cameron said of his sister. “You don’t like it when your sibling ever goes in front of you.”

Brooke explained that she and her brother swam in the same group until this year, when she was moved up into a higher-level group. She said that although she still occasionally practices with her old group, her training is “a little more intense.”

“But Cameron still gets intense training, too,” she added quickly. Brooke seems to be mindful of the fact that it’s a sensitive topic for her brother, who showed a twinge of jealousy when Brooke mentioned her promotion. He confirmed this when describing the sibling dynamic during practices.

“When she [practices with us], I want to be in front of her,” Cameron said. “I hate it when she goes in front of me. You don’t like it when your sibling ever goes in front of you.”

Like the Shkolniks, both Brooke and Cameron swim the same events, with their favorite being the 200 fly.

“But I’m faster,” Cameron is quick to point out. Though the 200 fly won’t take place until Sunday, Cameron was indeed able to beat his sister in the 50 back, finishing with a time of 34.74 compared to Brooke’s 36.55. However, Brooke won the battle in the 400 free. Her 4:52.68 was good enough to earn her fifth place overall in addition to a Zones qualification.

Anyone with a sibling, older or younger, can agree that there is a special competitiveness when going head-to-head against one another. This added intensity makes for some serious showboating following a victory, which Paul said he does not appreciate.

“I hate when Peter brags all the time,” Paul said.

“That’s not true!” Peter argued.

Though there is undoubtedly heavy competition, all four swimmers agree that having their sibling in the pool with them makes them work harder.

“If Peter’s doing better than me sometimes, I don’t want him to be that far ahead, so I try harder,” said Paul. “It’s actually pretty helpful.”

“Mostly, yes,” Brooke said of whether her brother motivates her to do better. “I just don’t like it when he beats me.”

When asked what they were looking forward to most this weekend, Peter and Paul finally came to a consensus.

“We’re staying at a hotel, and it’s amazing,” Paul said. “The food there, the breakfast, everything’s amazing.” Peter nodded his head in agreement.

Competitive as they may be, the Shkolnik brothers showed they can come together when it’s most important: continental breakfast.

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

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

Name*

Email*

2 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Paul shkolnik

7 years ago

I’m the star of the article, I love it

Peter Shkolnik

7 years ago

No I’m not the more reserved one!