The accidental swimmer

BY JONATHAN MILLMOW

Apparently it is not unusual that children who nearly drown end up being fine swimmers. Gareth Kean is a good example. As a two-year-old he had to be fished out of a pool; now he is serious medal contender in the 200m backstroke at next month's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

A day after arriving home from the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii with two gold medals, the 18- year-old from Upper Hutt is back at Freyberg Pool.

He's an impressive young man, both in appearance and the way he conducts and expresses himself.

Kean stands 1.94m (6ft 4in), tips the scales at 78kg and makes backstroking look as natural as breathing.

His Capital Swim Club mates are pleased to see him back, the girls tossing around his new speedos and the boys looking at his medals.

Kean is pleased by the past fortnight – not so much the two golds (100m and 200m backstroke) at the junior meet as the fifth placing in the 200m backstroke final at the senior Pan Pacific championships in California.

"How I performed was better than I planned," Kean said.

"Going into the Commonwealth Games, I'm ahead of where I want to be and hopefully I can do even better than I originally wanted.

"The seniors pleased me the most, given the level of competition and then the juniors topped it off. I went to the juniors to win and that's what I did, and I swam some good times."

Kean went a career-best 1min 57.78sec in the 200m final in Hawaii, which ranks him third in the Commonwealth and 14th in the world.

"I was expecting a time around low 1.58 so 1.57[.78] was pretty amazing."

KEAN'S story is notable from many angles. There is his near-fateful early dip, a clear respect for those close to him and the good fortune that his coach Gary Hurring was a top backstroker. Hurring was a 200m world silver medallist in 1978 and was the Commonwealth champion the same year.

When asked if he was born to swim, Kean reveals for the first time that he nearly drowned as a two-year-old at a Johnsonville school pool.

"I started learning to swim when I was four following an accident when I nearly drowned," Kean said.

"I was playing around when my older brother [Hayden] was learning how to swim, and I had to get fished out by the instructor before I drowned.

"I guess that was a turning point so my parents [Neville and Sally] decided I needed to learn how to swim myself and from there I have gone up through the stages. I've really enjoyed the competition and being able to race."

Sally Kean remembers the accident better than Gareth.

"I was seven months pregnant with the twins and Gareth was roaming around the outside of the pool dipping his fingers in the water. In he went and the instructor had to rescue him because I couldn't run," she said.

"I'm not sure he would've drowned – I guess he would've if nobody had got to him. He literally went spreadeagled and the instructor swam over and picked him out. He just lay there and stayed there and all I did was scream."

Kean doesn't just lie there any more. He is flying, and good judges believe he will shave more time off if he can improve his turns.

"If there was a 200m length pool I reckon I would do well," he joked.

"My underwater work isn't as strong as others in the world at the moment, which is great because it means I have somewhere to improve.

"It will just take practice ... going over the skills and drills and then getting the power through the legs underwater."

He prefers the 200m to the 100m, but his personal best of 54.57sec is still the best 100m time by a New Zealander in a fabric suit.

"I hold my speed better. In 200 there is not as much emphasis on underwater work. I can deal on top of the water more, and work."

WHEN Kean speaks there is a calmness and maturity seldom evident in other emerging sportspeople. He suggests nerves will not be an issue for him in New Delhi next month or next year at the world championships in Shanghai.

"When I go into a race I race for myself.

"I don't get worried about the others around me. You have to improve your own race and that is how you end up getting results.

"I've never really been fazed about who I'm going to race. If they are fazed then I have an advantage because they are getting worried about something they have no control over."

Kean won't set any records at this weekend's Wellington short course championships, but he wants to race as a show of support and watch training partners such as Samuel Turner and Ben McFetridge compete.

After that, all lanes lead to New Delhi, an event that captures the attention of the everyday Kiwi.

Kean hopes all the hard work and sacrifices will pay off – the early starts, the three trainings a day, five months without a drop of alcohol and being the sober driver.

His parents did all the driving between Upper Hutt and the city until two years ago when, to everyone's great relief, Gareth passed his licence. They timekeep at local meets and sometimes cheer. Both will be poolside in New Delhi.

And of course there is Hurring, a man Kean holds in the highest regard.

"You can't create it all yourself and there was an external influence and I think Gary Hurring was that.

"He was a 200m backstroker himself so he knew exactly what I needed to do and what I need to go through.

"Being able to follow him means I have someone there right by my side when I race and when I train who has done it all. I definitely feel he has rubbed off on me.

"I can go away on trips without him and swim well but it was such a pleasure to go away to the junior Pan Pacs with him and break the New Zealand record in front of him."

As for a prediction for the Commonwealth Games, the young man without an ego sits on the starting blocks.

"I'd hope to make the [200m] final and then anything can happen.

"I didn't know I was going to go under 1.58 two weeks ago.

"I'm excited. It will be good."

AT A GLANCE: Name: Gareth Kean Age 18 Lives: Upper Hutt Family: Parents Neville and Sally, older brother Hayden, 16-year-old twins Taryn and Byron College: Ex- Wellington College Specialist event: 200m backstroke Best time: 1min 57.78sec, set in Hawaii, August 29, 2010 Ranking: 3rd in Commonwealth, 14th in the world Club: Capital Coach: Gary Hurring

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