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Show •: Special Ft THe Utah Statesman^ Record-setting twins bring raw skills to college volleyball team B Y D A N STEINBERG The Washington Post WASHINGTON — "Records/' American University volleyball coach Barry Goldberg said sympathetically, "are meant to be broken." He explained this on a recent afternoon to his most famous record holders, freshmen Ann and Claire Recht, the world's tallest female twins. As high schoolers in Milwaukie, Ore., their year-long pursuit of that Guinness-certified record yielded complimentary trips to New York, national television appearances and countless radio and newspaper interviews. But as the Rechts recently learned, another pair of female twins — Arizona basketball players Beatrice and Suzy Bofia — hopes to break their record, possibly as early as this fall. And so, Goldberg's consolations notwithstanding, the Rechts are getting ready to revisit their own record, planning to prove to Guinness that they now measure 6 feet 71/2 inches (Ann) and 6 feet 7 1/4 inches (Claire). M I can't just let them win," Claire said this week. "Now, it's a competition." She said this with a smile, while Goldberg chuckled in the background. This is LA Times photo BARRY GOLDBERG, CENTER, volleyball coach at American University in Washington, expects big things out of the world's tallest twin sisters, Ann, left, and Claire Recht. why he recruited two sisters who have played serious volleyball for less than two years, sisters who still served underhanded when they entered high school and who had never trained with weights outside gym class before they came to American. Sure, they immediately became two of the tallest Division I women's volleyball players in the country, but Goldberg was equally drawn to their playfully competitive personalities. The Rechts didn't blush when diners at a local Italian restaurant dropped their silverware to stare during their official visit to the school last spring. They didn't shrink when passers-by asked if they played basketball; "Do you play miniature golf?" is their standard answer. They weren't embarrassed as they excitedly asked Goldberg if he was familiar with the Tall Girl store. "I said, Well, no, I don't really know very much about it,'" he recalled, " 'but I guess I'm going to be finding out.'" Eighteen years of such pursuits, it turns out, have prepared the Rechts for the first few weeks at American, where they live in separate dorm rooms on the same floor. They were unfazed by the AU student who asked Claire if she was "one of the giants." They are used to the frequent glances they get from strangers, although they think it's rude to stare. They laughed about the extra-long twin beds they requested for their dorm rooms and the extra-large volleyball jerseys that still aren't long enough. Jo Recht, their mother, who made their prom dresses by hand and lengthens their pants to a 40 inseam, plans to bring her sewing machine and meet the Eagles during a road trip to California. The Rechts' lives, not surprisingly, often have required such minor altera- tions. Parents Eric and Jo Recht are 6-5 and 6-3; their house has extra tall shower heads that turned out not to be quite tall enough. Older sons Karl and Warren are 6-9 and 6-8, while middle child Martha is 5-11. "She's our little short person," Claire said. Claire and Ann measured 22 inches at birth, and as toddlers their pediatrician predicted they'd grow well past 6 feet. They were a head taller than preschool classmates. By midway through elementary school, they were complaining about the lack of "fun colors" in their women's-size shoes and looking their teacher in the eye. Soon, adults told them they looked too old for trick-ortreating. They coined a term for the boys who would puff out their chests and strut by, attempting to measure the twins' height against their own: "The Run-By." By their freshman year, a friend discovered that they were taller than Heidi and Heather Burge, Guinness' tallest female twins. The Rechts, who never shied away from tall talk — quibbling over which sister was taller and bragging each time they grew an inch — decided to pursue the record. "Why not?" Claire Recht explained. "I mean, people do all these weird things to get into the book. I don't have to do anything but just be there, be myself." Since they were still growing, they waited until the following summer and were then measured three times in a single day, attempting to satisfy Guinness specifications. An official at their high school publicized their ongoing attempt that fall. By that evening, two television crews had stopped by their school. CNN called at 5 a.m. the next day. Producers for Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey, Larry King and Jimmy Kimmel checked in. The 1:1._ LA Times photo TALL TWINS. Claire Recht, left, and twin sister Ann hit the bookstore at American University in Washington. They've already asked their coach about the nearby location of a Tall Girl shop. another twins convention," Claire said. 'It was so weird." By this time, they had discovered volleyball. Like their siblings, they played soccer growing up, eventually falling behind shorter-butquicker peers. They switched to basketball; family members tell of the twins situating themselves on either side of the hoop and lobbing the ball back and forth over the basket until it finally went in. But they didn't enjoy the contact with more aggressive players. "They were thicker than us," Ann said. "When we fell, it was just like a bag of bricks hitting the floor," Claire said. "It's like, 'Tiiiimber,'" Ann said. The Rechts had started playing volleyball at their tiny middle school, when getting the ball over the net was considered a major success. They didn't know anything about club volleyball, the offseason circuit that produces almost every college player. No one in their family had played the sport. When they arrived at high school tryouts, they wore baggy basketball shorts and running sneakers. They were asked what position they liked to play, "I was like, 'Position?' " Ann remembered. "They were like, 'You're a middle pushed any of their children into athletics despite entreaties from strangers, and they weren't sure their daughters should commit to the demands of a Division I scholarship. "We just saw athletics as sort of a physical fitness thing for our kids, something that was supposed to be above all fun," Eric Recht said. "My tendency is to say, 'Focus on your studies and forget about sports,' " Jo Recht agreed. Their daughters, though, were convinced they wanted to play, and they told Johnson and their parents as much. They also heard from coaches in the Pacific-10, Southeastern and Mountain West conferences, but American was the first school to offer scholarships and the most dedicated pursuer. During their visit to the Washington campus last spring, they committed in Goldberg's office. They immediately became the tallest AU players in Goldberg's 18-year tenure, by more than three inches. !l The team lists their height at 6-8, which would have made them the tallest Division I players in the nation last year. Several teammates said they were easily the tallest players they had ever played with. ANNUAL $4.99 PIZZA SALE!! 753-8770 752-8900 Campus and South of 200 N. North Of 200 N . 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