Friday, February 11, 2022
Ulett Siblings Continue to Share Swimming and Life Journeys Together
Photo of Tristen (left) and Rye (right) Ulett courtesy of Tristen Ulett
Regardless of where life has taken Tristen and Rye Ulett, they have made nearly each and every journey together.
The sister tandem, Tristen now 19 years old and Rye, age 17, have had very similar paths in the sport – they started swimming at age three, saw progress around age 12, swam at last summer’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming and now are competing together at the University of Louisville.
For them, they wouldn’t prefer their time in the sport any other way.
“It’s been great having her with me,” Tristen said. “We motivate each other in the best way that we can, we do everything together – we try not to make everything about swimming because that can get overwhelming, but we always try to have fun with whatever we are doing.”
The duo was placed into swim lessons at a young age by their parents, Dane and Tina, who grew up in Jamaica and viewed swim lessons as a necessity rather than an option. Tristen and Rye quickly adapted to the water and signed up for club swimming at SwimAtlanta, where they eventually found their feel for chlorine.
“For competitive swimming, I started in a lower group when I was 8, but when I was around 12 is when I finally started to see a bit of improvement,” Rye said. Before age 12, she didn’t see much of the sport in her future before realizing her 200 backstroke time at age 13 was more than 16 seconds faster than her best just the year before.
With personal bests going down, their sibling bond continued to rise – both were becoming excellent backstrokers, butterfliers and 200 I.M.’ers. Not only were they growing closer by becoming some of the fastest young talents in the area; they were also one of the few Black sister duos competing together on the national stage.
“One thing our parents told us is that we were going into a predominantly white sport, but don’t look too much into that. Be yourself and do what you know how to do,” Tristen said. “We know that it is important to inspire other young Black girls and boys who would like to swim, but it is also important to not put too much pressure on yourself to carry the weight of everyone.”
As they climbed the ranks, they made the move to swim for Dynamo Swim Club, a USA Swimming gold medal club out of Atlanta. Their respective progressions only continued to escalate with the assistance of current Dynamo coach Ian Murray and former coaches like Beth Winkowski and the late Jason Turcotte, who passed away in 2017.
For Murray, he was quick to note that their talents weren’t the only things that stood out about the sisters.
“They are extremely close,” Murray said of the two sisters. “If you are at a pool with them, it is rare that you seem them more than four or five feet apart from one another.
“On deck, they are always walking in with a smile and would still leave with a smile… When you see them interact with their friends and interact together, they are fun spirits. They were always giggling and having a fun time and were extremely well-liked by their teammates.”
At only 13 years old, Tristen went on to punch her ticket to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, becoming the fourth-youngest athlete out of the 1,803 qualifiers for the event.
“It was really cool to go [to Trials] at such a young age,” Tristen said. “It helped me at last year’s Trials because I knew what it was like – I was able to control my nerves a little bit more having gone in 2016.”
The following quad featured various highs for the Ulett sisters – Rye made the 2019 National Junior Team and Tristen was a part of numerous title-winning teams in Speedo Winter Junior National Championships relay events. Rye even went on to represent the U.S. at the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, which she called the “highlight” of her career to that point.
The next biggest pinpoint on their calendars was attending the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials together. For Tristen, it was not only a memorable feat in their swimming careers, but in their personal lives as well.
“It was really fun to have her there – we hadn’t been together in a while and that was really our first time ever apart and not swimming together,” Tristen explained. At the time, she was in college at Louisville while Rye was still at home training with Dynamo. “It was great having her there. She sat with us in the stands and watched our races.”
Photo of Tristen (left) and Rye (right) at last summer's U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming.
The duo qualified for Omaha in a number of events but found themselves together on the psych sheet in the 100 fly, 100 back and 200 I.M., giving them a chance to warm up, talk through about the events and their schedules, put suits on at the same time and sit in the ready room together.
“It really helped us calm our nerves,” Rye said of swimming similar events in Omaha.
Just a few months following their Trials experience, Rye joined her sister at Louisville, being welcomed to the team at the start of this past semester to play a pivotal role on the Cardinals swimming and diving roster.
“Coming here early, I was super nervous about how I would integrate with the team,” Rye said. “But everyone has been super supportive and having [Tristen] here has obviously been super helpful.”
“I know those two, and they are better together,” Murray added when asked about the impact they could have on the Louisville program. “Certainly not that they are bad when they are apart, but they are so good for one another and they bring out the best in each other which brings out the best in those around them.”
The duo is set to perform at the upcoming ACC Championships, which take place February 15-19 in Atlanta, Georgia. While they certainly still have years to come in their swimming careers and personal walks of life, one thing is clear: they will attack it together.
“We have similar goals in swimming and life and that helps us out a lot,” Tristen said. “One thing our parents always told us is that no matter how well we do or even if one person finishes better than the other—and this does sound kind of cheesy, but—the trophy is going home to the same place. Her success is my success and vice versa.”
Regardless of where life has taken Tristen and Rye Ulett, they have made nearly each and every journey together.
The sister tandem, Tristen now 19 years old and Rye, age 17, have had very similar paths in the sport – they started swimming at age three, saw progress around age 12, swam at last summer’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming and now are competing together at the University of Louisville.
For them, they wouldn’t prefer their time in the sport any other way.
“It’s been great having her with me,” Tristen said. “We motivate each other in the best way that we can, we do everything together – we try not to make everything about swimming because that can get overwhelming, but we always try to have fun with whatever we are doing.”
The duo was placed into swim lessons at a young age by their parents, Dane and Tina, who grew up in Jamaica and viewed swim lessons as a necessity rather than an option. Tristen and Rye quickly adapted to the water and signed up for club swimming at SwimAtlanta, where they eventually found their feel for chlorine.
“For competitive swimming, I started in a lower group when I was 8, but when I was around 12 is when I finally started to see a bit of improvement,” Rye said. Before age 12, she didn’t see much of the sport in her future before realizing her 200 backstroke time at age 13 was more than 16 seconds faster than her best just the year before.
With personal bests going down, their sibling bond continued to rise – both were becoming excellent backstrokers, butterfliers and 200 I.M.’ers. Not only were they growing closer by becoming some of the fastest young talents in the area; they were also one of the few Black sister duos competing together on the national stage.
“One thing our parents told us is that we were going into a predominantly white sport, but don’t look too much into that. Be yourself and do what you know how to do,” Tristen said. “We know that it is important to inspire other young Black girls and boys who would like to swim, but it is also important to not put too much pressure on yourself to carry the weight of everyone.”
As they climbed the ranks, they made the move to swim for Dynamo Swim Club, a USA Swimming gold medal club out of Atlanta. Their respective progressions only continued to escalate with the assistance of current Dynamo coach Ian Murray and former coaches like Beth Winkowski and the late Jason Turcotte, who passed away in 2017.
For Murray, he was quick to note that their talents weren’t the only things that stood out about the sisters.
“They are extremely close,” Murray said of the two sisters. “If you are at a pool with them, it is rare that you seem them more than four or five feet apart from one another.
“On deck, they are always walking in with a smile and would still leave with a smile… When you see them interact with their friends and interact together, they are fun spirits. They were always giggling and having a fun time and were extremely well-liked by their teammates.”
At only 13 years old, Tristen went on to punch her ticket to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, becoming the fourth-youngest athlete out of the 1,803 qualifiers for the event.
“It was really cool to go [to Trials] at such a young age,” Tristen said. “It helped me at last year’s Trials because I knew what it was like – I was able to control my nerves a little bit more having gone in 2016.”
The following quad featured various highs for the Ulett sisters – Rye made the 2019 National Junior Team and Tristen was a part of numerous title-winning teams in Speedo Winter Junior National Championships relay events. Rye even went on to represent the U.S. at the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, which she called the “highlight” of her career to that point.
The next biggest pinpoint on their calendars was attending the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials together. For Tristen, it was not only a memorable feat in their swimming careers, but in their personal lives as well.
“It was really fun to have her there – we hadn’t been together in a while and that was really our first time ever apart and not swimming together,” Tristen explained. At the time, she was in college at Louisville while Rye was still at home training with Dynamo. “It was great having her there. She sat with us in the stands and watched our races.”
Photo of Tristen (left) and Rye (right) at last summer's U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming.
The duo qualified for Omaha in a number of events but found themselves together on the psych sheet in the 100 fly, 100 back and 200 I.M., giving them a chance to warm up, talk through about the events and their schedules, put suits on at the same time and sit in the ready room together.
“It really helped us calm our nerves,” Rye said of swimming similar events in Omaha.
Just a few months following their Trials experience, Rye joined her sister at Louisville, being welcomed to the team at the start of this past semester to play a pivotal role on the Cardinals swimming and diving roster.
“Coming here early, I was super nervous about how I would integrate with the team,” Rye said. “But everyone has been super supportive and having [Tristen] here has obviously been super helpful.”
“I know those two, and they are better together,” Murray added when asked about the impact they could have on the Louisville program. “Certainly not that they are bad when they are apart, but they are so good for one another and they bring out the best in each other which brings out the best in those around them.”
The duo is set to perform at the upcoming ACC Championships, which take place February 15-19 in Atlanta, Georgia. While they certainly still have years to come in their swimming careers and personal walks of life, one thing is clear: they will attack it together.
“We have similar goals in swimming and life and that helps us out a lot,” Tristen said. “One thing our parents always told us is that no matter how well we do or even if one person finishes better than the other—and this does sound kind of cheesy, but—the trophy is going home to the same place. Her success is my success and vice versa.”