Brothers, Sisters Find New Home on Tar Heel Swim Team

In his 26 years as coach of the North Carolina swimming and diving team, Frank Comfort has coached 18 pairs of siblings.

"I think it says a lot about the team and how close we are and how satisfied everyone has been with their experience at North Carolina," said Stephen Mohr, whose brother, Eric Mohr is his teammate. "If you weren't, you wouldn't let your younger brother or sister come here."

Four pairs of siblings currently occupy the UNC swimming team's roster: Megan and Michael Chenier, Josh and Judd Glasco, Kathleen and Sean Quinn and the Mohrs.

In addition to those sisters and brothers, four other swimmers have siblings that are alumni of the UNC swim program: junior Amanda Kline, senior Laura Collier, senior Janna Turner and junior Kelly Weeks.

North Carolina coaches begin scouting current Tar Heels' younger siblings early and track their progress through high school.

While family may be a tradition in the UNC swimming program, having a brother or sister on the team does not mean an assured spot.

The "firmest of rules" in Comfort's recruiting strategy is impartiality, especially when dealing with younger siblings.

"Whitney Smith's sister would kill to come to North Carolina, but she's not fast enough," said Comfort. "Taking her wouldn't be fair to the program. But I've already talked to her about schools. That's just called taking care of the family."

While many younger siblings aspire to attend UNC, some take a great deal of convincing.

When Megan Chenier began looking at college swimming programs, her brother Michael's school -- North Carolina -- was not even on her list.

She was dead set against attending UNC because her brother was already there. But after a great deal of persuasion from Michael, she decided to attend. And she was impressed by what she found.

"The team was so close and knew each other so well," said Chenier. "It was like a family."

While the siblings on the team are very close, they say one of the best parts of having a sibling on the team is the rivalry.

Kathleen and Sean Quinn are notorious for pitting their skills against one another to try to improve.

At a meet with Johns Hopkins earlier in the year the sister and brother made a small wager.

Kathleen Quinn, a backstroker, would have to finish within thirty seconds of Sean Quinn's time to win the bet.

She finished with a time of 2 minutes, 30.15 seconds.

He clocked in at 2:01.18 and had to buy his sister a steak dinner.

"To have your brother here to see you win ACCs, to see you go through all your first college moments, is the best part," said Kathleen Quinn.

The tradition of North Carolina swimmers is set to continue in years to come, with a whole new crop of brothers and sisters already being scouted.

"(The Mohrs) have two younger brothers back in Wisconsin, and I think his youngest brother will definitely be coming here, he's the biggest Tar Heel fan there is," said distance coach Bill Tramel.

And so the family ties continue to extend.

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.