Levin brothers savour success
When asked what they got up to during the summer holidays, two Levin brothers now back at school would have to draw a deep breath.
Ollie Kennett, 15, and Jack Kennett, 13, have been keen members of the Levin Swimming Club from an early age and used the break to test their abilities in respected events on both side of the Tasman, winning a host of medals along the way.
Ollie recently travelled to Australia as part of the Swimming New Zealand open water team and competed in the 5km swim at the NSW Open Water Championships at the Sydney Regatta Centre, Penrith.
He said it was an experience he would never forget, with conditions nothing like what he had experienced in New Zealand as temperatures reached 37C.
He gained valuable open water experience and swam well to place 11th overall and better his personal best over the distance by more than 7 minutes.
A few weeks later he was back in the water, this time at Lake Taupo¯ for the New Zealand Open Water Championships/Epic Swim, taking on the 7.5km event while Jack swam the 2.5km event.
Ollie placed second in the 15-yearold race while Jack won the 14-yearold race. The brothers then teamed up with Levin Swimming Club teammates Maddie Howorth and Siobhan Burgess to win gold in the 4 x 1000m relay.
It was then on to the NZ Secondary Schools Open Water Championships Swim the Lighthouse event in Wellington, with Jack winning the 1.2km event 4 minutes ahead of a field of 85 swimmers in the 15-19-year and secondary school category.
On the same day Ollie swam 3.3km in the Pt Jerningham Round the Lighthouse event and placed second in the field of 258 swimmers, just 4sec behind winner Bevan Jacobs, 22, of Hawke’s Bay. It was enough to claim gold in the 15-19-year and school division to go with the overall silver medal.
The most recent event was the Manawatu¯ Age Group Championships at the Lido Palmerston North this month where Ollie won gold in the 400m and 200m freestyle events and silver in the 200m and 50m freestyle, and 100m and 50m backstroke events.
Jack won gold in the 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle, silver in the 50m backstroke, and bronze in 100m freestyle relay and individual medley relay events.
There’s no resting on laurels either. They’re continuing to train twice on most days — including 6am starts — under the tutelage of coach Dave Howorth in pursuit of more medals, this time at the NZ National Age Group Championships (NAGS).
The brothers have a combined total of 17 qualifying times so far for the NAGS, recognised as the premier age-grade swimming event, which will be held at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre in April.