Swimming: Dean's fitting tribute

Dean Kent

At first Dean Kent didn't want to get back in the pool. Every time he thought of training, his mind drifted back to Wellington and his family.

Paul Kent, his father and the man who introduced and fostered his love of swimming, had died suddenly while at the Naenae pool in Wellington. Kent was cooking dinner at his Auckland flat when he got the sort of phone call nobody wants.

Training suddenly didn't seem so important.

"It was tough getting back into the water at first. All I wanted to do was be down in Wellington with mum and the family," said the medley champion on the eve of the national swimming championships.

"But I've had great support from my family, my friends, my girlfriend (Miranda) and my team-mates."

So Kent got back in the pool. He went to Sydney and beat the Aussies in a skins meet and said he thought his dad "would be cracking a smile up there".

He'll race this week and then turn his thoughts to Melbourne in March, where he will be favourite for the 200m and 400m Commonwealth Games individual medley. He won't be lacking in determination.

"If anything it's just made me a little more steely," Kent said.

"It would be really awesome to win a gold as a tribute to dad. Whether or not it happens is another matter but I'll be doing my damnedest."

Kent grew up never more than a few pool-lengths from the water.

"My mum [Lorraine] was a big part of it, too. Both her and dad were swimmers and surf lifesavers."

The Kent name is synonymous with Wellington and Western Districts surf lifesaving. At Worser Bay, Paul won 17 Wellington and two national surf lifesaving titles. At Waitarere-Levin Surf Club, he won 20 Western Districts titles and a further two Wellington titles.

His 42 years of devotion to the sport was rewarded with a Distinguished Service Award last year.

"There wasn't a lot of time when I wasn't at the pool or the beach so swimming was a huge part of our lives," Dean recalled, telling how his father coached him during his early competitive years.

Somewhere in that time he laid the foundation that Kent hopes will carry him to Olympic gold. He's determined not to let the favourite tag in Melbourne cause any drag.

"In the Commonwealth there's really good swimming talent around so it's not going to be easy. But if I'm on my best on the day I'd back myself to beat most people. I've just got to do my absolute best to get myself prepared to do that."

"Most people" look like being, at this stage, Australia's Adam Lucas, Brian Johns of Canada and Robin Francis of South Africa.

Kent has no problem putting his finger on the reason why he has improved so much recently at an age, 27, many swimmers are thinking of pastures drier.

"It was a decision I made to back myself and go for everything I could possibly get. [Previously] I didn't have the belief in myself that I could get much better."

Fresh resolve borne out of tragedy will ensure he's never lacking for motivation again.


- HERALD ON SUNDAY