Sister, sister: ioanna and stephania make a big splash
By Connor McGlynn
Since the age of 12, Ioanna and Stephania Haralabidis have been terrorizing opponents in the water polo scene. Before the freshmen drivers arrived on the defending national champion USC women’s water polo team, these twin sisters—hailing from Athens, Greece—have created havoc at many different levels of competition. However, water polo was not always the target sport for the twins, and without an incredible influence, the dynamic duo may never have had the chance to embrace their terrific talents.
Though water polo didn’t begin to consume their lives until they were 12, the Haralabidis twins were far from strangers to the pool. Swimming for more than eight and a half years, the sisters found their strokes—Ioanna with butterfly and Stephania with backstroke— and excelled in the field.
“We were always first, second place. We were really, really fast swimmers,” said Stephania, the younger of the two by about a minute. “We were going to be on the Senior National swimming team, but we never really liked swimming. Going to practices we would cry to our mom, ‘We don’t want to go! We don’t want to go! We don’t like swimming!’ And then one day my older sister was like, ‘Mom, I’m done with swimming. I don’t like it anymore.’ And she was like, ‘Ok. Let’s try another sport.’”
Since the age of 12, Ioanna and Stephania Haralabidis have been terrorizing opponents in the water polo scene. Before the freshmen drivers arrived on the defending national champion USC women’s water polo team, these twin sisters—hailing from Athens, Greece—have created havoc at many different levels of competition. However, water polo was not always the target sport for the twins, and without an incredible influence, the dynamic duo may never have had the chance to embrace their terrific talents.
Though water polo didn’t begin to consume their lives until they were 12, the Haralabidis twins were far from strangers to the pool. Swimming for more than eight and a half years, the sisters found their strokes—Ioanna with butterfly and Stephania with backstroke— and excelled in the field.
“We were always first, second place. We were really, really fast swimmers,” said Stephania, the younger of the two by about a minute. “We were going to be on the Senior National swimming team, but we never really liked swimming. Going to practices we would cry to our mom, ‘We don’t want to go! We don’t want to go! We don’t like swimming!’ And then one day my older sister was like, ‘Mom, I’m done with swimming. I don’t like it anymore.’ And she was like, ‘Ok. Let’s try another sport.’”
Ioanna lets out a monster rip, showing the arm strength developed from years of swimming (Connor McGlynn)
Ioanna—called Joe by her sister and teammates— was not surprised by her mom’s reaction and unwillingness to listen to their requests to stop.
“We always whined, but my sister never whined,” said Ioanna about her 20-year old sister, Anastasia. “She liked the practices, so suddenly when she didn’t like it, my mom said it was enough so we went to water polo.”
After playing for years, Anastasia decided to forego the student-athlete process and currently attends the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada.
As big of an influence as their older sister played, both Ioanna and Stephania pointed out their rolemodel without any hesitation: their mother, Janet Scott.
“She is so amazing. I don’t know what I would do without her,” said Ioanna with complete admiration in her voice. “I wouldn’t be here without her. She did everything to make us be here.”
Stephania mirrored her sister’s admiration for their mother.
“That’s the thing. We wouldn’t be here without her. We wouldn’t have gone so far in our career with water polo because of her and wouldn’t have accomplished so many things without her,” added an emotional Stephania. “I have never met such a person that has done such great things for other people and doesn’t want anything for [herself].”
Scott now lives in Canada and, though she hasn’t seen her girls play at the collegiate level yet, plans on being in attendance for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and NCAA tournaments.
Reinforced with their mom’s dedication, which included chauffeuring the phenom freshmen from tutoring to school to practice each day, both of the standouts found their path onto the national stage. As members of the Greece Junior National team, the two claimed gold medals at the Junior European Championships in both 2011 and 2012 before capturing bronze as a part of the Women's Senior World Championship team in China in 2012.
“We always whined, but my sister never whined,” said Ioanna about her 20-year old sister, Anastasia. “She liked the practices, so suddenly when she didn’t like it, my mom said it was enough so we went to water polo.”
After playing for years, Anastasia decided to forego the student-athlete process and currently attends the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada.
As big of an influence as their older sister played, both Ioanna and Stephania pointed out their rolemodel without any hesitation: their mother, Janet Scott.
“She is so amazing. I don’t know what I would do without her,” said Ioanna with complete admiration in her voice. “I wouldn’t be here without her. She did everything to make us be here.”
Stephania mirrored her sister’s admiration for their mother.
“That’s the thing. We wouldn’t be here without her. We wouldn’t have gone so far in our career with water polo because of her and wouldn’t have accomplished so many things without her,” added an emotional Stephania. “I have never met such a person that has done such great things for other people and doesn’t want anything for [herself].”
Scott now lives in Canada and, though she hasn’t seen her girls play at the collegiate level yet, plans on being in attendance for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and NCAA tournaments.
Reinforced with their mom’s dedication, which included chauffeuring the phenom freshmen from tutoring to school to practice each day, both of the standouts found their path onto the national stage. As members of the Greece Junior National team, the two claimed gold medals at the Junior European Championships in both 2011 and 2012 before capturing bronze as a part of the Women's Senior World Championship team in China in 2012.
Stephania admits that being a lefty helps the twins' success, being able to dominate both sides of the pool (Connor McGlynn)
“The first time I felt I was going somewhere with water polo is when I was on the National team. When we were 16, we won first place in the championship in Spain and I won MVP in that championship,” said Stephania, USC’s second leading scorer on the season. “I just felt like now I am going somewhere. Now I am going to have some accomplishments in this sport and I can look in the future with greatness in this sport. It was just a big moment in my life.”
Constantly bombarded with school and sport, every student-athlete has their own mechanism to relieve stress. Though they are similar in many ways, Ioanna and Stephania see this as their biggest difference.
“She loves going out. I like going up to new people and talking to them, while she is more shy towards them, but she likes socializing a lot more— going out with her friends,” said Ioanna. “I like mostly just relaxing and maybe just read my book or something.”
While they’re not working out in the pool, the twins can be found in their shared dorm room sharing paranormal romance books and watching a wide genre of TV shows.
“I love watching crime shows, like the killing and how to solve it,” said Stephania, the agreed upon messier of the two. “Dexter, romance, comedy, I watch everything. Except for Thrillers. They scare me so much.”
Despite the variety of teams played for and people they have encountered, the sisters are still looking for the right nickname to catch on.
“Our coach, mostly everyone that we met, they called us the bullets,” said Ioanna. “Especially here, they use these a lot. ‘Hey, Greeks. Hey, twins.’”
The twins have certainly earned their nicknames as the bullets. Stephania has scored 43 goals in USC’s 22 games this season, while Ioanna has scored 26. But their teammates also have a more affectionate nickname for the tandem.
“I think were going to evolve them as we go,” added Stephania. “They call us Joe-Seph because of Joe and Steph, they combine the two names, but I’m not sure. I’m not good with that stuff.”
Assisting the Women of Troy to a 21-1 record in their first season is an impressive feat, but the “bullets” sights are set on retaining the title of National Champion. Admitting that an Olympic medal might slightly top significance, a goal they aim to reach in the 2016 Summer Olympics, both agree that an NCAA title would be an incredible achievement in their first year at USC.
(Originally created for publication in the University of Southern California's The Daily Trojan)
Constantly bombarded with school and sport, every student-athlete has their own mechanism to relieve stress. Though they are similar in many ways, Ioanna and Stephania see this as their biggest difference.
“She loves going out. I like going up to new people and talking to them, while she is more shy towards them, but she likes socializing a lot more— going out with her friends,” said Ioanna. “I like mostly just relaxing and maybe just read my book or something.”
While they’re not working out in the pool, the twins can be found in their shared dorm room sharing paranormal romance books and watching a wide genre of TV shows.
“I love watching crime shows, like the killing and how to solve it,” said Stephania, the agreed upon messier of the two. “Dexter, romance, comedy, I watch everything. Except for Thrillers. They scare me so much.”
Despite the variety of teams played for and people they have encountered, the sisters are still looking for the right nickname to catch on.
“Our coach, mostly everyone that we met, they called us the bullets,” said Ioanna. “Especially here, they use these a lot. ‘Hey, Greeks. Hey, twins.’”
The twins have certainly earned their nicknames as the bullets. Stephania has scored 43 goals in USC’s 22 games this season, while Ioanna has scored 26. But their teammates also have a more affectionate nickname for the tandem.
“I think were going to evolve them as we go,” added Stephania. “They call us Joe-Seph because of Joe and Steph, they combine the two names, but I’m not sure. I’m not good with that stuff.”
Assisting the Women of Troy to a 21-1 record in their first season is an impressive feat, but the “bullets” sights are set on retaining the title of National Champion. Admitting that an Olympic medal might slightly top significance, a goal they aim to reach in the 2016 Summer Olympics, both agree that an NCAA title would be an incredible achievement in their first year at USC.
(Originally created for publication in the University of Southern California's The Daily Trojan)