IN ANY sport it'd be alarming to have 22-year-olds sliding off the radar, especially ones who have proven they are quality international competitors.
This week, Olympic swimmer Gareth Kean decided to take a break from the sport. In hearing this, I felt for him.
Kean and I aren't exactly friends,but I get what he's going through. Being an international swimmer myself, and wheelchair rugby player, I know the demands of competing - especially in an individual and such self-motivated sport such as swimming.
Kean, who won silver at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, said he needed time away after more than a decade dedicated to the sport: "I just don't have the passion that it takes to be the best I can be right now. I believe I could qualify for Glasgow but I do not want to go there to make up the numbers.
"If I am not in the sort of shape to win a gold medal, then I am not doing justice to myself, my family and to the public ... And right now I am struggling to make that commitment."
Mate, hat off to ya, it takes courage to say you're struggling.
My training partner of five years, Daniel Sharp, recently hung up his goggles. And, like Kean, he is young.
At 26, Sharp is considered an older athlete - I refer to him as the grand-daddy of the Paralympics New Zealand swim team - but he's not really, at least not in age.
In terms of years spent training, Sharp and Kean have been swimming almost as long as some of their teammates would have been alive but that doesn't mean either of them is over the hill.
For Kean, I feel for him because I can relate to his position - I just don't have the courage he has and instead chose to plug away and struggle through, with the hope or belief that things would get better.
However, the difference I feel with relatively young athletes taking a break or retiring is that Kean and Sharp have achieved.
They'll be happy to sit back in years to come and say, "I didn't dotoo badly as a New Zealand representative, I'm happy with that".
No doubt there'll be some regrets, but for the most part they will be happy.
I don't think Kean should retire fully as yet. I like that he has recognised the need for a break and done something about it, though. Hopefully, Swimming New Zealand doesn't let Kean go. If he stops competing then he could be good for youngsters coming through.
