Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Gravley Brothers Share Journey to National Stage
Brennan Gravley made the most of his gap year.
After graduating from high school in 2018, he spent the next academic year training with his childhood club, the Sandpipers of Nevada, and deciding where to go to college. The extra year also gave him a chance to swim with his little brother, Dylan, on their club’s national group.
Although both are among the nation’s top open water swimmers—they are members of the U.S. National Team in the 10K—their fondest memories during their year training with each other came from swimming a different stroke.
“We would be next to each other in practice for breaststroke, and it would get pretty intense,” Brennan said. “As an older brother, it’s not only important to win against your little brother—it’s your job. It’s out of the question to lose.
“But my brother, on top of being a really good breaststroker, is just a really hard worker. Some of the best breaststroke times I’ve ever gone in practice were next to him because he would look at it as an opportunity to kick my butt. I was doing everything I could to keep him off of me.”
Their competitive drive helped make them one of three sets of brothers currently on the U.S. National Team, joining Arik and Austin Katz and Carson and Jake Foster. Prior to those three sets of siblings, the most recent brothers on the team were Jay and Kevin Litherland in 2017-18. (Sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh are also current members of the U.S. National Team.)
Brennan and Dylan have long shared the goal of making the U.S. National Team. Brennan qualified in 2017, and Dylan joined him in April with a fifth-place finish at the 2021 USA Swimming Men’s 10K National Championship.
“Once Brennan made it in 2017, it made it, I don’t want to say more realistic, but it brought it into view for myself,” Dylan said. “Just seeing my brother being able to do it, that really helped me out. I was like I can do it too, and, of course, he was supportive in that. It was just through support and hard work and brotherly love.”
Brennan and Dylan competed at the FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series in Abu Dhabi in December, swimming under Ron Aitken, their coach with the Sandpipers of Nevada. It was Dylan's first international competition representing Team USA.
“It’s something I’ve always aspired to do,” Dylan said. “Now that I’m at this level and I get to experience it with my brother, it’s such a beautiful thing. I couldn’t have dreamt it any better.”
Added Brennan: “It’s so cool to have someone you can be so close with and so real with when you’re traveling the world. We always have a lot of fun together, and I think it takes the pressure off a lot of things when you have your brother by your side. It allows you to race with a clear head and not get in your own way too much.
“There’s something pretty cool about being on the world stage and being able to look over to your left or right and see your own brother. Not only can we race together, but we can work together because out there it’s United States versus the other countries. It’ll be a lot of fun. Those are things that I’ve always wanted him to see.”
The two brothers are separated by 2,000 miles—Brennan is a junior at the University of Florida and Dylan a freshman at Arizona State University—but they stay in constant touch. They’ll text each other memes and funny videos, yes, but also ask how the other is doing.
The answer to that question seems to be pretty well considering their success.
“I just say keep an eye out for us two,” Dylan said. “I think we’re really going to do some great things in the coming years. I think we’re going to be a pretty good duo.”
After graduating from high school in 2018, he spent the next academic year training with his childhood club, the Sandpipers of Nevada, and deciding where to go to college. The extra year also gave him a chance to swim with his little brother, Dylan, on their club’s national group.
Although both are among the nation’s top open water swimmers—they are members of the U.S. National Team in the 10K—their fondest memories during their year training with each other came from swimming a different stroke.
“We would be next to each other in practice for breaststroke, and it would get pretty intense,” Brennan said. “As an older brother, it’s not only important to win against your little brother—it’s your job. It’s out of the question to lose.
“But my brother, on top of being a really good breaststroker, is just a really hard worker. Some of the best breaststroke times I’ve ever gone in practice were next to him because he would look at it as an opportunity to kick my butt. I was doing everything I could to keep him off of me.”
Their competitive drive helped make them one of three sets of brothers currently on the U.S. National Team, joining Arik and Austin Katz and Carson and Jake Foster. Prior to those three sets of siblings, the most recent brothers on the team were Jay and Kevin Litherland in 2017-18. (Sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh are also current members of the U.S. National Team.)
Brennan and Dylan have long shared the goal of making the U.S. National Team. Brennan qualified in 2017, and Dylan joined him in April with a fifth-place finish at the 2021 USA Swimming Men’s 10K National Championship.
“Once Brennan made it in 2017, it made it, I don’t want to say more realistic, but it brought it into view for myself,” Dylan said. “Just seeing my brother being able to do it, that really helped me out. I was like I can do it too, and, of course, he was supportive in that. It was just through support and hard work and brotherly love.”
Brennan and Dylan competed at the FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series in Abu Dhabi in December, swimming under Ron Aitken, their coach with the Sandpipers of Nevada. It was Dylan's first international competition representing Team USA.
“It’s something I’ve always aspired to do,” Dylan said. “Now that I’m at this level and I get to experience it with my brother, it’s such a beautiful thing. I couldn’t have dreamt it any better.”
Added Brennan: “It’s so cool to have someone you can be so close with and so real with when you’re traveling the world. We always have a lot of fun together, and I think it takes the pressure off a lot of things when you have your brother by your side. It allows you to race with a clear head and not get in your own way too much.
“There’s something pretty cool about being on the world stage and being able to look over to your left or right and see your own brother. Not only can we race together, but we can work together because out there it’s United States versus the other countries. It’ll be a lot of fun. Those are things that I’ve always wanted him to see.”
The two brothers are separated by 2,000 miles—Brennan is a junior at the University of Florida and Dylan a freshman at Arizona State University—but they stay in constant touch. They’ll text each other memes and funny videos, yes, but also ask how the other is doing.
The answer to that question seems to be pretty well considering their success.
“I just say keep an eye out for us two,” Dylan said. “I think we’re really going to do some great things in the coming years. I think we’re going to be a pretty good duo.”