ORANGE, Calif.— On a sunny day at the Allred Aquatics Center, a lanky 18-year-old freshman swimmer with no shirt, red Nike running sneakers and black shorts arose from a crowded pool deck, microphone in hand. His long blonde wispy hair, which resembles that of Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence, reflected in the bright sunshine. He was wearing his sunglasses which hid the tears welling up in his eyes as he began to speak at Chapman Swim and Dive senior day. 

It was freshman swimmer Harrison Kundahl speaking in honor of his older sister, teammate and senior swimmer Caroline Kundahl. 'A ray of sunshine,' is what he called her when reflecting on her 20 year long swimming career. H. Kundahl has competed alongside her roughly 15 of those years. 

Suffice it to say, there were no dry eyes that day. 

On the opposite side of the pool deck stood fellow senior Noah Williams and his freshman sister teammate Bella Williams. The ginger sibling duo, who hails from Salt Lake City, Utah originally, bantered back and forth following the events about if B. Williams would even miss her older brother when he graduates in May. 

"It all speaks to the culture we have here," said Head Coach Juliet Suess. "It speaks to the support they get at Chapman because they know there is always someone for them." 

Family Ties 

Support is what drove the Kundahl and Williams siblings to reunite at the same university on the same swim team, despite all being out-of-state students. It's also what kept them all in the same sport for roughly the last 15 years. 

The Kundahl siblings grew up in Denver, Colo. where H. Kundahl followed in the footsteps of his big sister C. Kundahl in joining the local community swim team. From the get go, they were hooked. Instantly, they defined their lives by prepping for early morning swims, long workouts staring at that black line at the bottom of chlorinated water, and swim competitions that took them all over the state. 

But the siblings did it all— together. 

The same applied to the Williams siblings, who started swimming on the local neighborhood team in part because their parents were swimmers at the University of Utah. It's the family sport the siblings bonded over.

As Noah and Caroline grew, so too did their love for the sport, especially when it was suddenly ripped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those years lit a spark in both of them. 

"When the pandemic hit midway through my high school career, I realized I wasn't swimming consistently for the first time in my life," C. Kundahl recalls. "I knew I needed to continue swimming. When I came out to visit Chapman in November of my senior year, I knew, I wanted to come here." 

In fall 2022, N. Williams and C. Kundahl dragged their personal belongs down Walnut Street directly behind the Allred Aquatics Center to the freshman dorms across the street. Harrison and Bella were both in tow, an extra set of hands to set up their siblings's new homes. 

"When we came to move Noah in his freshman year, I looked around and thought 'man, I am jealous,'" B. Williams recalls. "'I don't want to leave.'" 

Little did she know, that she would rejoin him just a few years later. 

The College Swimming Era 

In fall 2025, history repeated itself as Harrison and Bella went through the exact same process. The siblings lived around the corner from one another yet again. Something they don't take for granted. In mid-October, Suess noticed B. Williams walking down the pathway just off the Argyros Global Citizen Plaza. Her brother was walking back home, when he bumped into her. He asked where she was headed, and she responded she was heading to class. Immediately, Suess noticed that Noah turned around, and escorted his little sister across campus to her class. When asked about the interaction, the Williams agreed that it created a 'pinch me' moment. 

"I'll be walking back from class and I will see him and just say 'Oh wow that's strange," B. Williams said. 

"I've already gone through everything, and I can pass that down to her," N. Williams stated of that moment and many others. "I could 'coach her' on college life."

This era is also pushing the brother and sister duos to hold each other accountable despite being different... maybe even to the point of annoyance at times. When asked if they'd ever messaged their siblings wondering why they were not on the pool deck on in the weight room for an early morning workout, B. Williams groaned and giggled. Her level-headed brother values his sleep, and is normally waiting until the final second to jump in the cold water for those winter workouts. He can confidently say that he has never missed a workout, but it gives his type A sister mini heart attacks every so often wondering if he be there in time. The Kundahls admit to track their sibling's locations on their cell phones too if they notice one is not present right away.

The discipline also spreads to other avenues across their Chapman careers. N. and B. Williams are both Business majors in the Argyros College of Business and Economics. H. Kundahl is a Political Science major in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. C. Kundahl is a Strategic and Corporate Communications major in the School of Communication. Across those different majors, all four athletes agreed they chose Chapman and the Division III level because they knew they could pursue their passions, in and outside the pool. 

"I remember getting accepted, I was hard shaking because I was so nervous," H. Kundahl recalls fondly. "I was driving to practice when I received the email and quickly decided to check it before we ran in. I was so happy. They had my major, the team and the final reason to come was having Caroline here." 

Suffice it to say, betting on coming back together worked out for all four of them.

Lasting Legacy

Supportive accountability is the mentality that has spread throughout the entire program, both in and outside the pool. Chapman will host their final home meet on Saturday, Jan. 24 against UC Santa Cruz. That meet represents final opportunities for athletes to earn best times and build momentum towards the Conference Championship meet in late February.

But, for a sport focused so much on individual performance, the siblings are building the unity, support and competitive energy that has helped catapult the program back into the top half of SCIAC and puts them in a never ending club of family members becoming part of the Chapman Athletics family.

"There is enough belief in the program to trust us with both siblings," Suess said. "They are helping us create a legacy of who we want to be here."