Edwards brothers embrace sibling connection in pool

Blake wants to cruise in an RV across Australia. Lachlan thinks the idea is dreadful. Lachlan loves listening to Taylor Swift. Blake thinks she’s awful. The Edwards brothers are two of USC’s top aquatic athletes. But though they share a love for the sport and for each other, they couldn’t be more different.

Blake is a 23-year-old junior transfer from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. Lachlan is a 20-year-old sophomore who was recruited by USC straight out of high school and spent last year playing for the Trojans.

The two have spent many years playing water polo together. They grew up by the pool, as their mother and father represented Australia in swimming and water polo, respectively.

Blake started playing water polo as a 12 year old, when his older brothers began their careers, and Lachlan started at the same time as an 8-year-old. The two are the third and fifth brothers in a family of aquatic athletes.

Five of the brothers started for the same Melbourne Collegians club team in what was a season unlike anything most athletes or siblings could ever hope to experience.

“For me, it was one of my most memorable water polo experiences — that camaraderie  that we developed from knowing each other,” Blake said. “It was just a really rewarding experience to be out there and to share something with your brothers.”

Both brothers are members of the Australian National Team, so they have been able to travel to many places in Asia and Eastern Europe.  However, one place water polo had never taken the Edwards’ before USC was the United States.

Their perception of America was taken straight from Hollywood. Blake confessed he loved watching the TV show The O.C.

“My dream is to have a girl on the back of my bike, riding on the boardwalk,” he said.

Not only are the two countries’ cultures different, but both brothers also acknowledged that the transition from Australian universities was very challenging because the student body is much more disengaged and the learning more theoretical on their home continent.

“I find that the way it’s set up here with everyone on campus sets up more opportunities to network and meet people,” Blake said.  “The learning is much more engaging and enjoyable.”

Though the brothers are good at coexisting in the pool, they aren’t so used to being forced to do so outside of it.  Currently, Blake and Lachlan are sharing a room, something they haven’t had to do since before they were five.

“We fought a lot more back home. Usually he is the grumpiest man back home, and I’m always annoying him … now that we’re in the same room, he hasn’t really got a choice,” Blake said.  “We’re still in the honeymoon stage.”

Even the honeymoon stage of a relationship has its tense points, though.  Blake described a wrong turn he made in L.A. that gave him an eye-opening look at some of the more interesting parts of Los Angeles.  Lachlan shook his head and expressed how happy he was that he missed out on that quasi-adventure.

And though the brothers share a room, they do not share a taste in music.

“You listen to all crap, like all ’80s stuff,” Lachlan said to Blake. “There’s a time and a place for that, and he cannot pick when that should be played.”

Blake responded disapprovingly by telling his brother that he listens to a lot of teenage girl music.

“It’s the best stuff,” Lachlan replied.

When their time at USC comes to a close and the brothers are back down under, both would like to spend time seeing more of Australia, however Blake’s desired surfing road trip in an RV isn’t for everyone.

“That’s where we’re the opposite,” Lachlan said.  “It’d be good to see that stuff, but a year in a truck with him, I don’t know about that.”

In the meantime, the brothers said their biggest goal is to win a national championship for USC, something they said their connection might help them to do.

“I seem to find him a lot easier,” Blake said. “I don’t know if it’s because of the size of him but that’s the way it’s always happened.  I understand him and his abilities a lot more, and he understands mine as well.”

The brothers will continue their water polo career together, both in and out of the pool.  They will look to lead USC to another national title, something they say shouldn’t be too hard.

“There’s no one closer than your family, so when I’m successful and able to share it with him, it’s something I can’t describe,” Lachlan said. “Seeing him be successful and play well, you get the same feeling if it was you doing it.”