When a pair of twins are born, it seems like they are destined to do everything together. In the cases of Rachael and Remy Braun and Ariana and Zoe Harland, seniors, and Ashton and Kaleb Santisteban and Grace and Sophie Syverson, sophomores this has held true throughout their high school years, competing together as athletes.

The Brauns, Syversons and Santistebans are track runners while the Harlands are involved in dance team.

In sports, there usually is an indescribable chemistry between teammates. When the teammate is a sibling, the bond is even closer, which can be a downside for the other players. “I become so used to playing with [Rachael] that it is difficult to play with other people who I am not connected to. When Rachael decided not to play basketball, it was hard for me to get used to it at first because I was so used to always having her with me… it was like something was missing without her,” Remy Braun said.

However, having a sibling compete in the same sport can also be a downside if one does significantly better than the other. However, it appears that this is not a problem for the Harland sisters, who in the past competed together on the dance team. “That never happens,” Zoe Harland said. “[Ariana] and I tend to compete with others, but not towards each other. We secretly make up our own team to make things more fun.”

Things can also be very competitive with any siblings, let alone a twin. Identical twins typically have the same build as each other while fraternal twins do not. Having the same build only adds to the competition, as having the advantage has to do with skill alone, adding to the sibling rivalry. 

“It gets super competitive to see who’s better, but we both support each other even though we both have our separate strengths and weaknesses,” Kaleb Santisteban said. 

With having a teammate at home, each motivates the other constantly to get better and improve. Motivation is key in any relationship, and this is especially true in sports. “In competition I know when [Remy] is trying to do really well in a game or on a run I try to tell her not to worry about others and just focus on being the best she can be. I try to remind her of how hard she works so she knows she is capable of achieving a goal,” Rachael Braun said.

In the end however, they will support each other no matter what happens, just as any other sibling would. 

“Athletics have definitely strengthened our bond,” Remy Braun said. “I think that being athletes and competing together has changed the way people see us. Without sports, I don’t think our relationship would be the same, but I also don’t think we would be the same athletes  that we are today if we weren’t twins.”