This story is taken from the Southeast News dated May 19, 1983: 

If it wasn’t hard enough to tell the identical twin Swaton brothers apart, Norman and Jack had to make it even more difficult by both excelling at everything they do and doing pretty much everything. 

If you want to know about their accomplishments here at Downey High School, you only need ask one. They both have done everything and are the best at it, warned Downey High School Assistant Principal Edward Potter. 

Jack and Norman Swaton both held 4.0 grade point averages, are tied for first place to their senior class, are co-captains of the varsity water polo team on which they’ve achieved All-American status and are talented musicians playing in the Downey High band but also in a band of their own. 

The Swaton Twins, as they are known on campus, recently were named outstanding students of the year by the Rotary Club of Downey. Also honored were Shery Symons, who shared the number one position in the senior class with them, and Warren High School students Jeffrey Bradbury and Mary Chu. 

At 17, the Swaton Twins are at an age when each is struggling to establish his own identity but that is hard when they just happen to like all the same things. 

At the beginning of the school year, each worked out their schedules independently and it just happens that most of the classes and activities they picked were the same type. 

“We don’t do everything together on purpose, we do it because we happen to like the same things,” said Jack. 

The main accomplishment which led to their Rotary award was their academic standing. Both have straight A averages and share the top spot with Symons in a class of 518 students. 

Beyond their academic standing, the Swatons have both excelled in sports and music. 

They are co-captains, most valuable players and All-Americans in water polo. Something in their common genes must have held a proclivity for loud brassy things for both play brass instruments. They play together in the school marching band, and both also play in a German oom-pah band and a band called Pegasus. 

With graduation near, each of the two youths has decided which college he will attend and what his major will be. Given the many similarities to past endeavors, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that both Jack and Norman to attend USC and major in Business. (They say they plan to live in separate dorms.)

Bobbi Bruce is a docent with the Downey Historical Society.