Friday, February 12, 2021
Sibling Rivalries Turned Sibling Motivators
Alex Walsh couldn’t figure out what was happening.
During one of their workouts, she and her sister, Gretchen Walsh, were doing a distance freestyle set, but Gretchen didn’t take the set out as quickly as she normally would, confusing her older sister, and then sped past Alex during the last 100.
“I was so mad,” Alex said. “I was, like, ‘That’s not how you’re supposed to swim that set.’”
The two didn’t speak to each other for the rest of practice, the ride home or throughout dinner with their family. Alex eventually made a peace offering that smoothed everything over.
“I was, like, ‘OK, this is stupid. Do you want to get Jeni’s ice cream?’” Alex said. “That actually happened more than once. We would have a little cat fight and then we would have to get over it because at the end of the day, we’re sisters, and I wanted ice cream.”
Having a sibling who is also one of your fastest teammates isn’t always easy, but Alex and Gretchen made it work. They pushed each other to new heights while swimming in lanes next to each other, which helped them qualify for the U.S. National Team and accomplish something rare.
There have been just three other sets of siblings on the National Team at the same time since 2008 — Caroline and Clark Burckle, Fran and Teresa Crippen and Jay and Kevin Litherland — but none of them sisters. Haley and Alyssa Anderson, Gabby and Ali DeLoof and Robert and Melanie Margalis all made the National Team during that time span but never shared spots on the same roster.
But Alex, a freshman at the University of Virginia, and Gretchen, a high school senior who signed with Virginia, aren’t the only siblings on the National Team. They’re joined by Austin, a senior at the University of Texas, and Arik Katz, a freshman at Harvard University.
Like the Walsh siblings, the Katz brothers had their moments of sibling rivalry in the pool.
Although they’re three years apart in age, the Katz brothers were able to swim in the same training group for more than a year and trained together when Austin returned home for breaks from college. Each of them badly wanted to beat his brother.
“Whenever we do race in practice, it’s fun,” Austin said. “But at the same time, it can get a little intense. Both of us are extremely competitive people. Both of us want to get our hand on the wall first.”
That competitiveness extended to one of their favorite hobbies while growing up.
“We were both really into building things,” Arik said. “He was a big Lego person, but I was into K’NEX. I would always build these little model roller coasters, while he built Lego battleships. We’d fight over which was better, stuff like that, just ridiculous stuff.
“I feel like everything is more important when you’re younger. I look back and I’m, like, ‘How were we fighting about these ridiculous things?’”
The two have spent their time during the coronavirus pandemic messing around with music production software in hopes of starting a duo. Arik is a talented pianist who has played at Carnegie Hall twice, and the two are learning how to play the guitar.
“So stay tuned, I guess,” Arik said.
Once they’re done with their short-course seasons, the Katz brothers and Walsh sisters will shift their focus to the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, a meet they’re familiar with.
Austin and Arik watched their older siblings compete in 2012, and Arik watched Austin and their older sister compete in 2016. Now it’s Arik’s turn to swim in the meet alongside Austin.
“It will be really exciting to finish it off, to come full circle and have both of us swimming there at the same time and see what happens,” Arik said.
Alex, then 14, was nervous when competing in 2016 — she admits she threw up, something her coaches continue to joke with her about — but finished 12th in the 100 backstroke, one spot ahead of now-world-record–holder Regan Smith, and 11th in the 200 backstroke. Gretchen finished tied for 125th in the 50 freestyle, her lone event, but was just 13 at the time.
The four siblings enter this year’s Trials in a much better position than five years ago.
Austin swam the second-fastest NCAA 200-yard backstroke last season, and Arik claimed top spot at the 2020 TYR Pro Swim Series at Des Moines, ahead of National Team powerhouses Jordan Wilimovsky and Zane Grothe. Gretchen’s 24.65 50 freestyle and 54.37 100 freestyle and Alex’s 2:14.10 200 IM last November rank first, third and fourth, respectively, among Americans in the 2020-21 long-course season.
If they qualify for the Olympics, the four know who to thank for helping them achieve their goal: their siblings.
“He’s definitely been a super-influential role model in my life,” Arik said. “It’s nice to have sort of a mentor figure.”
“I think whenever [one of us gets beaten by the other] there’s a sense of pride that we helped that person get better that day,” Austin said. “We both want to see each other succeed.”
“I wouldn’t be able to be where I am today if she hadn’t been my training partner for so long,” Gretchen said. “It’s that kind of competition, even in practice, that really sets you apart.”
“We would show up to practice and be expected to just go right in the two lanes next to each other and race the whole practice,” Alex said. “It was definitely the best way for us, the only way for us, to really get better, to push each other.”
During one of their workouts, she and her sister, Gretchen Walsh, were doing a distance freestyle set, but Gretchen didn’t take the set out as quickly as she normally would, confusing her older sister, and then sped past Alex during the last 100.
“I was so mad,” Alex said. “I was, like, ‘That’s not how you’re supposed to swim that set.’”
The two didn’t speak to each other for the rest of practice, the ride home or throughout dinner with their family. Alex eventually made a peace offering that smoothed everything over.
“I was, like, ‘OK, this is stupid. Do you want to get Jeni’s ice cream?’” Alex said. “That actually happened more than once. We would have a little cat fight and then we would have to get over it because at the end of the day, we’re sisters, and I wanted ice cream.”
Having a sibling who is also one of your fastest teammates isn’t always easy, but Alex and Gretchen made it work. They pushed each other to new heights while swimming in lanes next to each other, which helped them qualify for the U.S. National Team and accomplish something rare.
There have been just three other sets of siblings on the National Team at the same time since 2008 — Caroline and Clark Burckle, Fran and Teresa Crippen and Jay and Kevin Litherland — but none of them sisters. Haley and Alyssa Anderson, Gabby and Ali DeLoof and Robert and Melanie Margalis all made the National Team during that time span but never shared spots on the same roster.
But Alex, a freshman at the University of Virginia, and Gretchen, a high school senior who signed with Virginia, aren’t the only siblings on the National Team. They’re joined by Austin, a senior at the University of Texas, and Arik Katz, a freshman at Harvard University.
Like the Walsh siblings, the Katz brothers had their moments of sibling rivalry in the pool.
Although they’re three years apart in age, the Katz brothers were able to swim in the same training group for more than a year and trained together when Austin returned home for breaks from college. Each of them badly wanted to beat his brother.
“Whenever we do race in practice, it’s fun,” Austin said. “But at the same time, it can get a little intense. Both of us are extremely competitive people. Both of us want to get our hand on the wall first.”
That competitiveness extended to one of their favorite hobbies while growing up.
“We were both really into building things,” Arik said. “He was a big Lego person, but I was into K’NEX. I would always build these little model roller coasters, while he built Lego battleships. We’d fight over which was better, stuff like that, just ridiculous stuff.
“I feel like everything is more important when you’re younger. I look back and I’m, like, ‘How were we fighting about these ridiculous things?’”
The two have spent their time during the coronavirus pandemic messing around with music production software in hopes of starting a duo. Arik is a talented pianist who has played at Carnegie Hall twice, and the two are learning how to play the guitar.
“So stay tuned, I guess,” Arik said.
Once they’re done with their short-course seasons, the Katz brothers and Walsh sisters will shift their focus to the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, a meet they’re familiar with.
Austin and Arik watched their older siblings compete in 2012, and Arik watched Austin and their older sister compete in 2016. Now it’s Arik’s turn to swim in the meet alongside Austin.
“It will be really exciting to finish it off, to come full circle and have both of us swimming there at the same time and see what happens,” Arik said.
Alex, then 14, was nervous when competing in 2016 — she admits she threw up, something her coaches continue to joke with her about — but finished 12th in the 100 backstroke, one spot ahead of now-world-record–holder Regan Smith, and 11th in the 200 backstroke. Gretchen finished tied for 125th in the 50 freestyle, her lone event, but was just 13 at the time.
The four siblings enter this year’s Trials in a much better position than five years ago.
Austin swam the second-fastest NCAA 200-yard backstroke last season, and Arik claimed top spot at the 2020 TYR Pro Swim Series at Des Moines, ahead of National Team powerhouses Jordan Wilimovsky and Zane Grothe. Gretchen’s 24.65 50 freestyle and 54.37 100 freestyle and Alex’s 2:14.10 200 IM last November rank first, third and fourth, respectively, among Americans in the 2020-21 long-course season.
If they qualify for the Olympics, the four know who to thank for helping them achieve their goal: their siblings.
“He’s definitely been a super-influential role model in my life,” Arik said. “It’s nice to have sort of a mentor figure.”
“I think whenever [one of us gets beaten by the other] there’s a sense of pride that we helped that person get better that day,” Austin said. “We both want to see each other succeed.”
“I wouldn’t be able to be where I am today if she hadn’t been my training partner for so long,” Gretchen said. “It’s that kind of competition, even in practice, that really sets you apart.”
“We would show up to practice and be expected to just go right in the two lanes next to each other and race the whole practice,” Alex said. “It was definitely the best way for us, the only way for us, to really get better, to push each other.”