Athens High School student Marina Galante envies her little brother Anthony’s schedule. He has an hour or two of nap time before his daily gymnastics practice. Marina has to go straight to hers after school and, at four hours, it’s an hour longer.

“I’m always trying to see how fast I can get my homework done so I can go to bed,” she said.

“I’m a little light on homework right now,” Anthony said, shooting a sly grin at his big sister.

The acrobatic Galante siblings, Marina, 16 and Anthony, 14, are like most brothers and sisters — slightly competitive, mostly loving. And by all accounts, pretty remarkable.

Both keep up honor-roll grades despite monster practice schedules of up to 20 hours a week. They’re also a rare brother-sister duo in a sport usually filled with females. And they’re both winners: Anthony got first place and Marina second at national regional meets this year in their skill and age groups. Marina already has a verbal committment to West Virginia University for a gymnastics scholarship.

“I am the proud mama,” said Cyndi Galante, who can take some credit for chauffering them to practices and devoting all her part-time earnings as a physical therapist to their gym tuitions.

“We should own stock in Glad plastic bags,” said dad Len, a scientist at GlaxoSmithKline. They’re everywhere at the Galante’s Cary home, packed with ice to soothe achy joints and muscles.

Life with not one, but two, budding gymnasts never stops.

The Olympics Tape

Marina was 3 when her parents saw her doing gymnastics while watching a video of the Olympics.

“She literally wanted this thing rewound,” said Len. “She was obsessed with it.”

She used her Hula Hoop to mimic what the athletes were doing onscreen. Her aunt noticed that she memorized an entire routine.

“Of course, it didn’t look fantastic, but it looked pretty good,” said Len.

Three years later, at the age of 6, she asked her parents to sign her up in a class. In gymnastics, students go up to level 10, which is considered collegiate/expert. Marina started practicing at a level 3 and is now a 10.

She left the Apex gym when she reached level 8 and landed at Superior Gymnastics in Morrisville.

Not your average teen

“It’s really time-consuming and I don’t do things usual teens do,” Marina said. “I have to stay in on Friday night because I have Saturday morning [practice].” Marina missed her junior prom to attend nationals.

“She is a hard worker, dedicated and very motivated,” said Krystal Kramer, owner of Superior Gymnastics. “I am honored to have helped her reach her goal as a collegiate gymnast.”

Marina’s typical weekday runs from 6 a.m. to past 7:30 p.m., by the time she gets done with school and practice.

“I eat dinner right when I get home,” she said, and is sometimes up until past midnight finishing homework. “It is so hard to stick with it.”

Len estimated that if he had a dime for every time one of his children talked about quitting, he’d probably be able to pay their monthly tuition. It averages out to be $650 for both kids, not including out-of-state trips.

But Marina said she hasn’t seriously thought about quitting the sport for the last few years. “Eighth grade was my big year for ‘I’m quitting,’” she said. It was the year she joined a new gym and had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. “I spent the whole season in pain ... then we got a new coach and he got me excited again.”

“Marina decided early on that she wanted to go to college with gymnastics,” said Cyndi. Beyond college, Marina aims to go into sports medicine or psychology.

Watching herself fly through the air on video, she doesn’t pretend it’s easy.

“Fear is a big issue,” she said about trying the big flips — done sometimes on a four-inch balance beam barely wider than her foot. She fights it by focusing on the score she wants or working to impress a recruiter.

She also uses her fair share of pre-meet rituals. “I always have to cut my nails and put in earrings that match my leotard,” she said. She also doesn’t wash her wristbands (“it’s disgusting,” she and her mother agree) and saves all her good luck text messages.

Keeps me in shape

“Anthony got drug to the gym all the time,” said Cyndi about then 8-year-old Anthony, who was more interested in Tae Kwon Do than gymnastics. He ended up joining the newly formed boy’s team at his sister’s gym as a space filler and never left. He’s now a level 8, just two behind his sister, and works out at North Raleigh Gymnastics.

“I got serious a year ago,” he said. “It was just much more competitive, and kind of creative.”

Unlike his 5-foot-1 sister who has to watch what she eats to keep her small frame light, Anthony eats before and after practice. He also makes time for video games and skateboarding — an activity his father worries about more than gymnastics because it’s outside of the gym’s controlled environment and watchful coaches.

Anthony just waves him off.

“That’s kind of what he tells me,” Len said.

As the youngest boy in his level, Anthony said that recently his attitude is he won’t be quitting anytime soon. “I enjoy going to practice and getting better,” he said. “It keeps me in shape.”

He’s once practiced with a broken elbow and is currently having some knee pain. But his parents are strict about not ignoring medical advice, even though he and his sister have gotten used to working through pain.

“He is training but he is only doing the upper body skills,” said Cyndi, who preaches strenghtening and stretching to both of her kids.

Deal breakers

Both parents have seen injuries and finances drive other families out of the demanding sport.

“We’ve seen parents who’ve said, ‘I’m sorry, pick another sport; we’re not doing this anymore,’” said Len. “But as parents, I think you have to roll with the punches.”

In fact, the only gymnastics deal-breaker for the Galantes would be if either child brought home a C on their report card. Other than that, they’ll keep going as long as Marina and Anthony have the desire.

Besides, they’re not sure what other sport they’d be suited to.

“We’re short people; we have short kids,” said Len. “I asked Marina’s first coach how far will she go. She said, ‘she will go as far as she can go.’”

“I’m just trying to get through high school right now,” added Marina.