In the modern world of hyper-specialized athletes, many forget that some teams train together as one -- boys and girls.
However, Virginia swimming and diving head coach Mark Bernardino correctly identifies the swimmers as "men and women, now that they are out of high school."
The swimmers are at a sufficient age that they can deal with the presence of the other gender in the pool. Not only that, Virginia swimmers have learned to appreciate the other gender as competitive and supportive teammates.
"They want to be better than one another, but it is a great kind of competition," Bernardino said. "It pushes them to be better students and better athletes. I think that they are more like brothers and sisters in that they care about one another that way. They really enjoy one another's successes and take pride in the successes that they each have."
On a Virginia team that boasts 51 total swimmers, 28 are men and 23 are women. During practices especially, both squads can train together for the sake of competition.
"With some guys, it really motivates them, because our girls are really good and fast," senior Fran Crippen said. "It helps them be faster because nobody wants to lose to your teammate, especially if it is the opposite gender. It really helps out with our competitiveness in practice."
From the other perspective, female swimmers see the men as sources of motivation as well as humor.
"It gets competitive," senior Brielle White said. "People crack jokes. The boys make jokes. They have a very different humor than women do. It is so much more fun when you are next to a guy."
As a coach, several gender issues have to be identified. Friday is the only practice day when players train as a gender-selective team, a simulation of actual meets.
"We do not discriminate in terms of gender," Bernardino said. "But I think that there are differences in the genders and how you want to approach them and coach them in general. That is a great thing about swimming -- men and women can get in the same lane, swim the same races, compete against each other and try to make each other better. That is pretty fascinating."
During meets, support not only from their respective teams but from the other team as well helps push some swimmers even further, especially with their gender-specific traits.
"I love it," White said. "Guys are naturally more aggressive. They were the hunters and the gatherers back in the day, a long time ago. They are so aggressive, and they get pumped up in their low voices. Girls, we get excited too, but guys are really loud."
In the pool and out, both squads enjoy each other's company.
"We get along really well," Crippen said. "I know some schools that both teams train together all the time but they don't get along, but that is not the case on our team."
The 4-2 men's squad and 2-3 women's squad have several weeks off to prepare for their next competition in early December in the Georgia Invitational. In those weeks, both genders can take full advantage of each others' support in order to take on the best teams in the nation.
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