Johan Kenkhuis (born 7 May 1980 in

Vriezenveen Vriezenveen (West Low German, Lower Saxon: t Vjenne, Venne, Vjenne, Vreeznven or Vreeinvenne'') is a town in the municipality of Twenterand in the Dutch province of Overijssel. The population was 13,800 on January 1, 2020. Until July 1, 2002, ...

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

) is an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

medal winning

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. From a young age, Kenkhuis had a strong interest in swimming. In 1998, he won gold medals in both the 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle events in the European Junior Championships. At the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Johan was a member of the bronze medal 4×200 meter freestyle relay team. He also helped the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

win a silver medal at the

FINA World Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: Swimming (sport), swimming, Diving (sport), diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 2001 as a member of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay team. However, by 2002, he was growing tired of the sport and close to retirement. His coach, Fedor Hes, helped him develop a different training strategy which involved spending more time on dry land. Seemingly invigorated by the new training style, Johan quickly progressed enough to win fourth place at the 50 meter freestyle event in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain. He finished only 0.01 seconds behind the bronze medalist. In the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, Johan was a member of the Dutch Olympic swim team. As the starting swimmer in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, alongside

Pieter van den Hoogenband Pieter Cornelis Martijn van den Hoogenband (; born 14 March 1978) is a Dutch retired swimmer. He is a triple Olympic champion and former world record holder. Early life Born in Maastricht, Limburg, he is the son of Cees-Rein van den Hoogenb ...

Mitja Zastrow Mitja Kolia Zastrow (born 7 March 1977) is a Dutch swimmer and an Olympic medalist. Originally from Germany, Zastrow was born and raised in Wuppertal, near Düsseldorf. He became a naturalized Dutch citizen in July 2003, after a ...

, and

Klaas-Erik Zwering Klaas-Erik Zwering (born 19 May 1981) is a former Dutch swimmer and an Olympic medalist. He is currently studying MBO entrepreneurship as he trained in Eindhoven with the PSV Eindhoven swim club. His personal coach was Jacco Verhaeren, who is ...

he played a critical role in securing a silver medal in the event. Kenkhuis is currently living in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

where he is a member of De Dolfijn SPAX swim club but trains with XLence Swimteam. He is a Business and Marketing major at the Johan Cruyff University in Amsterdam. Kenkhuis was one of only eleven openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

athletes to participate in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In November 2006 he announced that he would quit swimming on the highest level after the 2006 European Championships Short Course in

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki () is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipality, with million in the capital region and ...

References

External links

Zwemkroniek Online Profile

XLence Swimteam Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenkhuis, Johan 1980 births Living people Dutch gay sportsmen Dutch male freestyle swimmers Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic swimmers for the Netherlands People from Vriezenveen Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming LGBTQ swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Swimmers from Overijssel 21st-century Dutch LGBTQ people 20th-century Dutch sportsmen

See also

References

External links