When the STA swim team entered the Blue Springs South indoor swimming pool Jan. 19 for their meet against rival high school Notre Dame de Sion, they expected to see their competition glaring at them or avoiding conversation. Instead, the team saw Sion swim coach Paul Winkeler walking toward them with a smile on his face, wearing a white dress shirt, argyle sweater vest and khaki pants. The exact same shirt, sweater vest and pants as STA swim coach Andy Wilcox.

It was at that moment the STA swim team confirmed the so called “bromance” between the two swim coaches, according to junior Sarah Wirtz.

“At first Wilcox tried to deny [the bromance,]” Wirtz said. “But after [Wilcox and Winkeler] wore the same outfit to the Sion meet, there was no way he could deny [their bromance].”

According to urbandictionary.com, “bromance” describes the brotherly love and affection between two males. According to the STA and Sion swim teams, “bromance” describes the relationship between head coaches Wilcox and Winkeler. The two men do everything together, Wirtz said.

According to Wilcox, the friendship between him and Winkeler began about eight months ago, when Wilcox took a teaching and swim coaching job at Rockhurst High School. Winkeler is the head coach of the swim and dive program at Rockhurst, and has been a science teacher there since 1999.

“We started to spend the majority of our time together, and found out we had so much in common,” Wilcox said. “Soon enough, [Winkeler] became my ‘mentor’ at Rockhurst, both in teaching and coaching, and we became great friends.”

According to both Wilcox and Winkeler, the two believed they were long lost brothers, seperated at birth. They had so much in common that it was hard for them to believe they had only known one another for eight, short months.

After the Rockhurst swim season ended last fall, Wilcox took the head coaching job for STA’s swim team while Winkeler returned to Sion to coach their swim team.

Although the two schools are intense competitors in not only swimming but all sporting events, the rivalry has not affected the “bromance,” according to Winkeler.

“It’s a great rivalry that elevates both programs and [Wilcox and I] both realize that,” Winkeler said. “But honestly, the rivalry doesn’t affect our friendship. We still drive together to most meets, which is great because he’s a wonderful person to bounce ideas off of or to vent to about the daily frustrations of coaching.”

Although the continuous competition between STA and Sion does not affect the Wilcox and Winkeler’s relationship, their friendship does have an effect on the two school’s rivalry, according to sophomore Meka Kelly. The two coaches have fun bantering back and forth during the swim meets and, as a result, the STA and Sion swim teams have actually become closer.

“I’m pretty sure [Sion junior] Darby Evans and Sarah Wirtz bought matching sweater vests to represent Winks and Wilcoxy,” Kelly said. “They plan on dressing up as [Winkeler and Wilcox] for the State meet.”

Although the “bromance” seems most apparent during swim meets, it is actually much stronger outside of the pool, according to Winkeler. The two men spend time together often, whether it be fixing broken water heaters, having dinner together or carpooling to work.

“This bromance is legit,” Kelly said. “[Wilcox and Winkeler] even go out to eat with their families, and if you find one of them at a [swim] meet, you can bet the other one isn’t too far away.”

In fact, the two coaches are so close that they even have the same facial hair, according to freshman Allison Hogan.

“Wilcox tells [the swim team] that he wants to shave his head if we win State or ILCs (Independent League Championships),” Hogan said. “But I think we all know that [Wilcox] only wants to so he will look more like Winkeler.”