They've been to Olympic Games and won world championships but winning a silver medal just about trumped them all for Dean and Steven Kent at the New Zealand surf lifesaving championships in Gisborne yesterday.
The brothers paired up in the tube rescue for the Titahi Bay club on the firstday of the three-day nationals carnival, at Midway Beach.
Despite younger brother Steve struggling with injury and 36-year-old Dean on a minimal training regime these days, they finished behind Midway's Cory Taylor and Chris Dawson with a gutsy final sprint up the beach.
"I haven't got a whole lot of training under my belt and Stevo has a busted knee and busted ankle so it wasn't a bad effort," three-time Olympic swimmer Dean said. "This is our first time competing together in the tube race and it's really special for Steve and I to be able to do a race together like that. All the family were here and to come away with a medal makes it even more special."
It was a family celebration in more ways than one. The Kent siblings are two of seven cousins competing this week, with Danny and Kevin Morrison (Mairangi Bay) both qualifying for tomorrow's ski race final, as did another cousin, national kayaking champion Marty McDowell, who scraped through his semifinal. Two more McDowells, Danny and Will, are also representing Titahi Bay and Dean Kent said the family reunion aspect was hugely satisfying.
Taylor, the reigning national ironman champion, added the tube rescue title to the run-swim-run crown he picked up earlier in the day.
Papamoa's Natalie Peat returned from training across the Tasman to claim the scalp of Australian Kristyl Smith in the open women's run-swim-run, and paired with Malia Josephson to claim silver in the tube rescue, behind Red Beach's Kelsi Boocock and Rachel Clarke. Another Australian, Melissa Howard, took out the women's beach flags final although the New Zealand title went to Papamoa member Madi Kidd, 17, from another teenager Olivia Eaton (Mt Maunganui).
Fitzroy's Paul Cracroft-Wilson captured his fourth open men's beach flags title, although it came eight years after his last one in 2007. He just beat Murdoch Finch (Riversdale) in the final, with Morgan Foster third.
