2nd article

Swim meets at Transylvania Universtiy this coming fall could also be mistaken for a Porter family reunion.

Twin brothers Joseph and Stephen Porter, 2008 graduates of Madisonville-North Hopkins high school, will join their older brother Daniel on the swim team at Transylvania.

“I've been swimming with my older brother ever since I can remember,” Stephen said.

Although Joseph and Stephen admit they have swam most of their lives, swimming competitively is still a fairly new idea. 

“I never really thought anything about swimming in college,” Stephen said. “Never was that serious about it until last year (when) we did really well in high school season.”

The Porter twins, however, will attempt to take on two sports at Transylvania, making the transition to collegiate sports even more difficult. They will also play tennis for the Pioneers.

The brothers used to play tennis on vacations, but began to take the sport more seriously in high school, Joseph said.

“We had a condominium in Florida and we played there all the time when we were younger,” he noted.

During the summer, Joseph and Stephen have been keeping in tune by playing against each other and also with the Madisonville Tennis Association on Tuesday and Thursday nights, they said.

Playing at Transylvania will not only keep the brothers together but give them an opportunity to compete at the next level.

“That’s why I want to play in college, just to see if I could get better,” Stephen said. “Just playing for three years, I haven't had much training or experience with it so I would just like to see how much further I can do.”

Balancing two sports with college courses will be difficult, but Translyvania’s head swimming and tennis coaches have been welcome to the boys’ wishes to play both sports, especially since the coaches are good friends, the brothers said.

Both Joseph and Stephen understand, however, the demanding schedules they will endure.

“Swimming lasts almost the entire school year, September to the middle of February, I think, so it’s going to be hard,” Joseph said. “There’s not going to be any break at all. There might be three or four weeks.”

For Stephen, he has already made up his mind if he is forced to choose between his pursuits.

“I’m not totally set on tennis yet,” he said. “I want to swim first and see if I can balance and manage that, and if that goes alright I’m going to try and play tennis, too.”

Whether the twins pursue tennis together after the swim season is yet to be seen, but each look forward to taking on their older brother during the coming season.

“We’ve always pretty much been in competition with him,” Joseph said. “When we were younger and he was bigger than us he would always beat us, but now that we’re getting the same size it’s a lot more competitive than it used to be.”