Twin sisters Madison and Taylor Buchanan are going to the Canada Games in Newfoundland and Labrador. Itzael Gaudet, another Team New Brunswick athlete, will play in two sports.

Taylor and Madison are from Saint John and have been doing artistic swimming — formerly synchronized swimming — since they were eight.

Now 16, they have been training and competing together for a long time and rely on each other for support.

"Maddie is my best friend, like best friend from birth, and I think having her to swim with and go through … all the stress and all the competitions together, I think it's made me a better swimmer," Taylor said.

The twins will be part of the team performances and will also perform two duets together.

Taylor says they work well together in part because they're sisters and look so much alike.

"I think it does give us a little bit of an advantage, especially with our duet, because the whole goal is to look alike and look similar and be in sync," she said. 

"When we're in the water together doing the same things and we're having a good swim, I feel like we just look very similar, and I think it looks really nice for the judges and for the people watching."

Madison says sometimes they can't even tell the difference between each other.

"Going back and watching videos, I'm like, 'is that me or Taylor?' It's hard to tell in the water, but it's pretty cool," Madison said.

Gaudet is a two-sport athlete

Gaudet is a swimmer and volleyball player. His schedules lined up perfectly.

It's swimming in Week 1 with the 16-year-old from Moncton competing in the 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre freestyle, 50-metre butterfly and 100-metre backstroke. 

He'll play volleyball in Week 2.

He didn't count on making both teams, but he knew it was possible because the schedules didn't conflict

"Once I discovered that both sports were two different weeks, that was definitely a goal that I had set for myself," he said.

Training for two

Gaudet essentially has the training schedule of two athletes.

"It got to a point where one day I'd have swim practice at 6 a.m. and then head to school," he said.

"And right after school I'd have to make my way to the gym and work out for about an hour. After that, depending on the day of the week, I'd have to go straight to another swim practice or volleyball practice."

The trip to Newfoundland is special for all three.

It's Gaudet's first time there and he's excited for a new experience and an opportunity to meet new people.

"I can't wait to visit a new province and I'm so excited to meet new people. Every province is going to be there. It's going to be awesome."

Twins were their grandfather's 'duckies'

The Buchanans have deep family roots there. Their mother grew up in Gander and went to university there. They still have a lot of family members in the province.

It's also a sad time with the recent death of their grandfather, a Newfoundland native. He had plans to attend their events and had his flight booked to see his "duckies," as he called Madison and Taylor.

He was always at the pool, cheering them loudly.

"We're really excited to go home and swim for him and make him proud because we know he's going to be watching," Taylor said.