While they deny having any special twin powers, swimmers Christine Kerr '14 and Danielle Kerr '14 have been making powerful waves in the pool throughout their first two seasons with the Big Green.
"The Class of 2014, and these two swimmers in particular, started the beginning of our resurgence as a better team," head coach Jim Wilson said. "And, as sophomores, they have really become team leaders."
Hailing from Gainesville, Fla., the Kerrs started swimming competitively when they were seven years old. Since then, their love for the pool has grown, with college swimming changing their perspective on the sport.
"To me, college swimming makes the sport of swimming make sense," Christine Kerr said. "Swimming on a club team [in high school] is very individual. Now I really have a team to swim for, and that motivates me to do well."
Both women hold Dartmouth records. Danielle Kerr owns the 200-yard butterfly record with a time of 1:59.88 and the 400-yard individual medley record with a time of 4:25.33, while Christine Kerr is the 200-yard freestyle record holder with a time of 1:48.96.
Recently, Danielle Kerr has been dominating the competition in the distance events, with her performance in the 1,000-yard free and 1,650-yard free earning her the distinction of DartmouthSports.com Athlete of the Week last week.
Even with their tremendous individual successes, one of the defining characteristics of the Kerrs is their sisterly love and support.
"We're not competitive at all," Christine Kerr said. "I've never met a set of twins as close as we are."
And, while the two excel in different events Christine Kerr is a sprinter, while Danielle Kerr specializes in distance events "they live and breathe each other's competitions," Wilson said.
While the two rarely compete in the same races, the Kerrs wouldn't mind if they were matched up against one another.
"I don't care if she beats me," Danielle Kerr said. "We feed off each other's successes. If she does well, I feel like I do well. It's a friendly competitiveness."
In Dartmouth's recent meet against University of New Hampshire, the Kerrs, along with teammates Sasha Alcon '15 and Elizabeth Kamai '12, set a new 200-yard freestyle relay pool record at UNH's Forbush Natatorium with a time of 1:41.35. For the twins, breaking the pool record was particularly sweet because the two now get to share the record with each other.
The years of swimming experience that the Kerrs have shared have led them to become each other's biggest motivators.
"They push each other," Wilson said. "They have a unique situation in that they can share each other's experiences and grow off that unlike any other teammates."
This ability to share experiences was something that the Kerrs knew they wanted when looking at colleges.
"We always knew we wanted to go to the same school," Danielle Kerr said. "We got interested in Dartmouth when we were juniors, and then we came and visited, and it just felt right."
Swimming has become the defining characteristic of their Dartmouth experience, mostly because of how much they love their team.
"I love going to morning practice at 6 a.m.," Christine Kerr said. "People think I'm crazy, but I get to see all my best friends."
The twins take this positive, focused attitude into every aspect of their athletic performance.
"Their greatest strengths are definitely their work ethics," Wilson said. "They work extremely hard, and that's what has gotten them to this point. And, through it all, they always have a smile on their faces."
As roommates this year, the two swimmers are almost inseparable.
"We think alike," Christine Kerr said. "If I was to say something really obscure to describe something, Danielle would know exactly what I mean."
These skills also come in handy outside of the pool.
"We're really good at random board games, like Pictionary," Danielle Kerr said. "It's like we have the same brain but in two different bodies."
After a year and a half, their coach still occasionally has trouble telling them apart.
"I still miss once in awhile they can mess me up big time," Wilson said. "I can tell them apart about 90 percent of the time though, especially when they are standing side by side."
If it isn't hard enough for spectators to distinguish individual swimmers when they don their team suits, swim caps and goggles, this dynamic duo really provides a challenge.
After working hard in practices, pushing themselves and their teammates to improve and performing well in meets, the Kerrs have high hopes for the rest of the swim season. The Big Green will host the University of Massachusetts and Bryant University this weekend, Jan. 27-28, at the Dartmouth Invitational in White River Junction, Vt., and the Kerrs are looking forward to the meet as another chance for the team to improve, with only four weeks remaining before Ivy League Championships.
"We want to win the [Dartmouth] Invitational like we did last year," Christine Kerr said. "And we have two more out of conference meets which we want to win as well, and we want to get fifth or better at Ivy [Championships in March]."
