Johan Kenkhuis

Johan Kenkhuis (born May 7, 1980 in Vriezenveen ) is a former Dutch swimmer . He won a silver and a bronze medal at the Olympic Games.

Career

Kenkhuis has had a keen interest in swimming since childhood. In 1998, Kenkhuis won two gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m freestyle at the European Youth Championships . At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , Kenkhuis won a bronze medal as a member of the freestyle relay in the 4 × 200 m freestyle. Furthermore, in 2001, again as a relay member, he won a silver medal at the 2001 World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, this time in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay .

In 2002, Kenkhuis intended to end his career as a swimmer. However, his trainer Fedor Hes helped him develop a different training strategy and motivated him to keep going. Kenkhuis then managed to achieve fourth place in the 50 m freestyle at the 2003 World Swimming Championships in Barcelona . Kenkhuis was only a hundredth of a second behind the bronze medalist.

In 2004, Kenkhuis was again a member of the Dutch 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the Summer Olympics in Athens , which also included swimmers Pieter van den Hoogenband , Mitja Zastrow and Klaas-Erik Zwering . Kenkhuis was the team's starting swimmer. The team reached second place and received the silver medal. In 2006 Kenkhuis announced that he would end his career as a professional swimmer after the European Short Course Championships in Helsinki in 2006 .

Kenkhuis currently lives openly gay in Amsterdam , where he is a member of the De Dolfijn SPAX swimming club . He also trains in the XLence swimming club. He is one of four athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens who publicly acknowledged their homosexuality. Kenkhuis is currently working at Johan Cruyff University in Amsterdam, graduating as a Business and Marketing Major .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Kenkhuis, Johan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Dutch swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH	May 7, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vriezenveen