Cal Poly is no stranger to Division-I athlete sibling duos. In recent memory, there were the Dunkle sisters for women’s tennis, the Cole sisters for women’s soccer and the Haberfield sisters for volleyball.
This fall, the sibling connection was extended to the pool, as freshman swimmer Sam Seybold decided to join his brother, junior swim captain Alex Seybold, on the Cal Poly swim team.
The pair have been excellent in their first season together, setting top-five program times and swimming on the same relays in meets as a part of the men’s team that dominated in competition.
The Seybolds are a powerful duo, but swimming together in college wasn’t something they had considered possible until recently.
A life with swimming
The pair attended San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, Calif., where they swam together most recently in 2022 when Sam was a sophomore and Alex was a senior.
“It just kind of happened, but I think it’s great,” Alex said. “We definitely had our own paths and they happened to merge at the same time.”
Having his brother by his side this season has been a welcome boost for Alex, who has been dominant through his first two years at Cal Poly.
The junior holds the second-fastest men’s 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard individual medley in program history, as well as the third-fastest 200-yard individual medley.
“It’s just nice to have [Sam] at practice, we know how to push each other, and there’s a little bit of home there every morning,” Alex said.
According to Alex, swimming isn’t a family tradition, but both brothers fell in love with the sport at a young age and have competed together on school and club teams for nearly their whole lives.
In high school, they both topped swimming leaderboards. Both graduated as the number one swimmer at San Ramon, with Alex ranked within California’s top 100 on Swimcloud.
“We’ve gone to many different teams, but each time we’re there together,” Sam said. “Coming down to visit, to watch swim meets, I had been down here a lot, and that got me used to the school which did help me make my decision.”
Sibling rivalry
Sam’s arrival presented a unique challenge for interim co-head coach Kim Foster Carlson, who was trying to discern similar appearances and swimming styles.
“Well for me, I can never tell them apart when they have their caps on, and I’ve mistakenly talked to one thinking it was the other,” Carlson said.
Carlson has noticed a sibling rivalry between the brothers in practice, increasing the intensity for the whole team.
“I think having siblings with that natural rivalry kind of helps with everybody around them,” Carlson said. “I think they joke around with each other a lot. The other teammates are like, ‘Oh, look at the little Seybold beating the big Seybold,’ kind of thing.”
This is nothing new for the Seybolds, who have been challenging each other in practices since they started swimming together in grade school.
The friendly rivalry often doesn’t stretch beyond practice, but the Seybolds compete in the 200-yard individual medley, where Alex narrowly outpaced Sam in limited chances over the year.
The brothers believe their relationship allows them to push each other to be faster swimmers uniquely.
“We swim different events, and there’s maybe one or two events we swim the same, so that’s where we come together more,” Alex said. “We’re competitive in a very healthy way, we like to push each other.”
Helping build a culture
Alex was named a captain heading into the year and has taken on a new role as a leader for Sam and the rest of the team.
“Just having them get to know each other and some of the upperclassmen to feel comfortable, I think that’s really important for team culture,” Alex said.
He is among a core of junior men’s swimmers who have become leaders on a team filled with young talent and few seniors.
Sam attributed a lot of his early success to the leadership his brother has provided as a voice for the new players on the team.
“If I had any question I’d go to Alex, and he’d answer it perfectly,” Sam said. “He’s been a great captain not just for me but for all the freshmen, giving us the information that we ask for and helping us out anywhere else.”
Success in the pool
With help from the duo, the Mustang men’s team cruised to the first undefeated conference dual meet season in program history.
In their first meet competing together since high school, the Seybolds combined for six top-three placements between the two, highlighted by Alex’s win in the 100-yard breaststroke and the duo’s joint effort to grab third place on the same 400-yard medley relay squad against UC Santa Barbara.
Since then, they have produced strong results, consistently finishing near the top of their events’ timetables.
Less than three months into his Cal Poly career, Sam posted the third-fastest time in the 200-yard backstroke in program history at the Texas Invitationals.
Alex is now ranked No. 11 in the Big West, while Sam has already reached No. 28 in his first year.
They will have a chance to put an exclamation point on their first season together at the upcoming Big West Championships in Houston, Texas from Tuesday, Feb. 11 through Saturday, Feb. 15.