By Gail Wood
Not only do they share the same face – their River Ridge swim coach can’t tell them apart.
The same hearty laugh and the same chiffon hairstyle.
But Kiana and Shanell Sullenberger, identical as identical twins can be, also share the same passion and talent for swimming. Between the two of them, the Sullenberger twins own 10 of the 12 school records at River Ridge High School.
Now, these look-a-like sisters head into their final year of high school swimming with the aspirations of breaking those remaining two records – the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. They’re also hoping to earn a major college scholarship for swimming
“Personality wise, they’re very similar,” said Kelly O’Neill, River Ridge’s swim coach. “Stroke wise, technique wise, they’re very similar. It’s like having two of the same persons. They’re amazing girls. They’re amazing athletes.”
The Sullenberger twins admit they have a secret weapon. Each other.
If they weren’t twins, if they didn’t have a live-in rival who has pushed them to excel in academics and athletics, they say they won’t be as good in pool.
“In practice, she’s right there to compete with me,” Shanell said. “She pushes me a lot.”
Not wanting to get beat by your sister is an on-going pep talk. Especially in those early mornings when the alarm goes off to wake you for another practice.
“I’m going, ‘Ahh, I don’t want to go,’” Kiana said. “And you have someone there to talk to. To help get you up and going. It makes it a lot easier.”
Then in practice when her legs are aching from a long workout, Kiana gets another boost when her sister taps on her feet as she swims up behind her.
“And I’ll have to go faster to stay ahead,” Kiana said.
O’Neill can see that friendly competitive rivalry in practice and in meets. It’s their perpetual prod.
“If they didn’t have each other I don’t think they’d be as good as they are,” O’Neill said. “They push each other to to the next level.”
The results are impressive. Last season at districts, the Sullenberger twins combined for two firsts and a second and swam legs on two relays that qualified for state. At state, they finished second and third in the 100-yard breaststroke. Shanell was second in 1:05.5. Kiana was just .15 of a second behind in third place.
The previous year as sophomores, they switched finishes in the breaststroke at state. Kiana placed third and Shanell was fourth.
Naturally, neither sister wants to lose to each other. But it’s not the end of the world when they do.
“It’s really not that bad,” Kiana said. “It’s not like I’m getting beat by her every time. Actually, it’s better to be beaten by her than anyone else.”
Shanell admits she doesn’t feel bad about beating her sister in a race. They’re competitive in whatever they do, whether it’s swimming, playing a board game or a video game.
“It actually feels pretty good,” Shanell said about beating her sister. “But we really do go back and forth. It’s never like I’m going to let her win this one. Then you feel guilty for letting her win.”
O’Neill, who swam at Washington State University, is impressed with the Sullenberger’s level of commitment. They’ve got the talent to go along with a strong commitment to practice hard.
“Their work ethic is above and beyond anyone I’ve ever met in my competitive swimming career,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill has only one problem with her identical duo. She can’t tell them apart. But she has a trick to help her decide who is who.
“Shanell has a mole on her hand,” O’Neill said. “Every day it’s which one has the mole? They look exactly alike.”
The other day the twins showed up at practice wearing the same color suit and same color cap, keeping everyone guessing.
“They like to have fun,” O’Neill said.
The Sullenberger twins, who father is a retired Army officer and is now a contractor, first started swimming when they turned 11. They swam on a youth recreation team at Fort Lewis for a couple of years before joining the Olympia Swim Club three years ago, launching their year-around involvement. In the spring, they become two-sport athletes and the Sullenberger twins squeeze track and swimming workouts into an afternoon. Track practice goes from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Swimming then lasts from 5 to 7 p.m.
“”They’re amazing,” O’Neill said. “They work very hard. They don’t have any attitude problem at all.”
The Sullenberger twins, who have no brothers or sisters, have been home schooled by their mom, Donna, since first grade. They’re close friends, usually doing things together whether it’s watching a movie, doing homework or shopping.
“We hang out a lot together,’ Shanell said.
They shared the same bedroom until just recently. They’re lifelong friends with similar interests in movies, games and music.
“We do think exactly alike,” Kiana said. “And we’ll give the same answer at the same time. People say we can’t play on the same team in boardgames. They say we cheat. We have to play against each other.”
But that’s okay for the Sullenberger twins. They’re used to competing against each other. It’s what helped make them so good.
Here’s a list of the top returning girls swimmers and how they did at state last year.
4A
100 butterfly – Miranda Early, Olympia, now a senior, placed 17th at state with a 1:02.
200 freestyle relay – Shelton, Annie Fitchitt, Hannah Garcia, Sarah Myers, 14th place in 1:49.
100 backstroke – Early, Olympia, now a senior, seventh in 1:00.2
3A
100 freestyle – Hansine Willoughby, Capital, junior, placed 18th in 56.2.
400 freestyle relay – Willoughby, Capital, junior, swam a leg on relay that placed 13th in 3:52.6.
2A
200 medley relay – River Ridge, Shanell Sullenberger, Erin Adelmann, Kiana Sullenberger, placed fifth at state in 1:59.0; North Thurston, Arriya Hansen, Katherine Tiernan, placed sixth.
200 freestyle – Shanell Sullenberger, River Ridge, sr., placed third at state in 1:56.7; Abby Sullivan, Tumwater, jr., placed fifth in 1:59.4; Samantha Anders, North Thurston, sr, placed eighth in 2:032.; Samantha Miner, North Thurston, jr, placed 13th in 2:07.3.
200 IM – Kiana Sullenberger, River Ridge, sr., placed third at state in 2:16.0; Lorraine Hack, Tumwater, jr, placed ninth in 2:19.1.
50 freestyle – Kather Tiernan, N. Thurston, jr., placed seventh in 25.3; Anneke Stoker, Tumwater, jr., placed 13th in 26.3; Marisa Shirley, Tumwater, jr, 16th in 26.9.
Diving – Rachael Howard, Tumwater, jr., eighth with a 221.45.
100 butterfly – Mariss Shirley,, Tumwater, jr, fourth in 1:01.8; Lorraine Hack, Tumwater, jr, fifth in 1:02.1; Arriya Hagen, North Thurston, 13th in 1:03.
100 freestyle – Kather Tiernan, North Thurston, sr, seventh in 56.3; Samantha Miner, North Thurston, jr, 16th in 59.9; Anneke Stoker, Tumwater, jr, 17th in 58.8.
500 freestyle – Samantha Anders, North Thurston, sr, sixth in 5;32.7; Erin Adelman, River Ridge, 10th in 5:39.8.
200 freestyle relay – Tumwater, Lorraine Hack, Stoker, Marissa Shirley, Abby Sullivan, fourth in 1:43.3; North Thurston, Miner, Anders, Tiernan, fifth in 1:45.6.
100 backstroke – Abby Sullivan, Tumwater, jr., second, 1:00.9; Arriya Hagen, North Thurston, now a jr, seventh in 1:04.8.
100 breaststroke – S. Sullenberger, River Ridge, now a senior, second in 1:05.79; K. Sullenberger, River Ridge, now a sr, 1:05.9.
400 freestyle relay – Tumwater, Hack, Stocker, Marissa, S. Sullivan, third in 3:47.2; North Thurston, Minjer, Schuar, Anders, sixth in 3:51.9; River Ridge, K. Sullenberger, Adelmann, Moore, S. Sullenberger, eighth in 3:55.3
