Sammy and Jilly Rippon - Making the Move, Yet Again

The girls are back in town.
Bouncing around the eastern region of America, Sammy and Jilly Rippon are glad to be back in their hometown. From Syracuse, to Oxford, Miss., to the Jersey Shore and back again, these identical twins have finally planted their feet into the familiar soil and are ready to start where they left off.
But through the change of neighborhoods, schools and friends, they have had each other. Spend 15 minutes with Sammy and Jilly and you'll realize they are not stereotypical twins. They joke with each other, they look out for one another, they share clothes, they are best friends. Both are year-round swimmers who are leading the J-D Girl's Swimming and Diving team to victory.
The following is an interview with the duo, revealing what they have been up to and been through the past five years.

Question: When did your family move from Syracuse to Mississippi?
Sammy: We moved from Syracuse at the end of sixth grade in 2005. We had some close friends from Tecumseh. We went there for kindergarten to the third grade, and Holy Cross from third to sixth grade.
Jilly: It was a tough move from the neighborhood; we were very tight knit and had many friends within the neighborhood.

Q: Why did you first move to Mississippi, and then after 3 years to New Jersey?
J: We moved because our dad (Christopher Rippon) got a job coaching football at Ole Miss as assistant coach. But we left shortly after the head coach was fired. In New Jersey, our dad found a new coaching job at Rutgers in New Jersey as the special teams coordinator.

Q: Were there differences between Oxford, Miss. and Syracuse?
S: Oxford is a college town, everything revolves around Ole Miss. Because we were not born in the South, we felt as though we were not fully accepted. The weather is very hot, so hot in the summer that heat advisories are given and we were not allowed to go outside.
J: Mississippi is very different from New York, girls don't play sports, lacrosse is not popular at all in the South, and girls often wear tons of make-up. Football is life. It is the main focus of athletics. But we made some great friends in Mississippi; they called us Jammy and Silly.

Q: What about swimming? Were there any differences between swimming in Oxford or New Jersey and Syracuse?
S: In Mississippi, we swam in an outdoor pool. When the weather was too hot to practice, the swim team is the only team to practice. Swimming is not as popular; if you swim it's the only sport you do. In Mississippi, I made states and in New Jersey I made Team States and Silver Championships.
J: Sammy and I were a couple of the lead swimmers on the Mississippi swim team because many seniors graduated from the team. I was a part of the Mississippi Zone Team. In New Jersey I made high school Individual States, Silver Championships, and I just missed Junior Olympics. It still bugs me today.

Q: What is your favorite event in swimming?
J: I swim butterfly and freestyle. My favorite events are the 100 meter butterfly and the 200 meter and 400 meter free relays.
S: I swim breaststroke and the individual medley. My favorite event is the 400 meter individual medley. It is an event not swam in high school, and, in my opinion, the most painful. But I love it!

Q: Which did you prefer, Oxford or the Jersey Shore?
S: In New Jersey, we liked the fact that we could actually go outside and on top of that, go to the beach. After school we could go home and do our homework on the beach, it was really nice. The school, although, was more cutthroat.

Q: Being juniors, are you starting to think about your plans for college?
J: In college, I definitely want to swim. We want to go to the same college because we don't know what we would do being apart from each other. We have talked to Duke, we thought about Syracuse University, but they are getting rid of their swim team. Our top choice right now is Brown. We like it because it's a renegade Ivy League school; it's not your typical Ivy League.
S: I am on the fence about swimming in college. But I plan on going wherever Jilly wants to swim. We help each other study, which benefits us a lot. I am keener on memorization than Jilly. We have all of the same classes together, not only because we are new to J-DHS, but also we thought it would be more logical. We are about at the same level academically. In New Jersey, I was eighth in the class and Jilly was 12th.

Q: Are there any clear differences between you two, personality wise or appearance wise?
J: Sammy's nose ring is the one thing that can separate us, appearance wise. We like to keep the same length of hair. Personality wise, Sammy is passive and soft-spoken. I am older than Sammy; naturally I like to take care of her. We are the same size, but Sammy is a little smaller than me. I blame it on my butt.
S: Jilly is more blunt and louder than I am. She is also sarcastic yet a very passionate person. We both like to dress nice in the beginning of the year, but as the year progresses, you will begin to notice that jeans and a t-shirt become a daily uniform for me.

Q: Do you get annoyed when addressed by the wrong name? Have you ever pretended to be each other? If so, have you pulled it off?
J: We're not really insulted when someone addresses us by the wrong name. I could hold a whole conversation as Sammy and tell her about it afterwards.
S: On a couple occasions we tried to trick our past boyfriends, pulling a "Sister, Sister." But it never worked, they could tell us apart very well.

Q: Being together so much, do you two ever argue or have fights?
J: We don't typically argue. We have our "tiffs" or minor arguments but for the most part we are pretty chill.
S: People often see twins as a negative thing like 'double the trouble.' But in reality we get along really well and are beyond the point of twins, we are best friends.