Yasmin Kessner - Auckland, New Zealand

Name: Yasmin Kessner

Lives in Auckland, New Zealand

Occupation: PhD Student, University of Auckland

Connect with Yasmin: IG

Age: 24

 Tell us about your swimming week

I swim 4-5 times per week. Most sessions are typically 60-minutes (covering 2500-3000m), with Saturday being 90-minutes. In the summer, race season, I will at times extend the 60-minute sessions to all be 90-minutes which pushes the session distance out to 4000m plus

 Describe a regular swim:

Warm up, followed by 50s, or 75s of swim, or a mixture of strokes, followed by a main set of 100s, or 400s swim or pull, then perhaps medleys, or fly, then warm down.

Who do you swim with?

The adult swim squad at SwimTastic. 

Why do you swim?

To train for open water swims and triathlon events.  In addition to my swimming, I put in six to seven, up to ten hours, per week of cycling, running and strength work towards my triathlon preparation.

  Do you have a favourite swim / pool set?

8 x 100s swim or pull. It’s a love-hate relationship with this set. It either makes me feel epic, or like I’m swimming through honey. 

 What does swimming mean to you?

There is just something epic about moving through water quickly. I feel very powerful when I do

 Do you have a current swimming goal? Or a ‘bucket list’ swim.

I would love to do a marathon swim one day; the Masters 10km swim event which is held each year in Auckland attracts my attention.

What’s the best place (or two) you’ve swum?

Taupo, New Zealand when I raced the Taupo Half Ironman. The water was crystal clear . . . I forgot I was racing for a second.  

If a visitor came to Auckland where would you recommend they swim? 

SwimTastic for sure if they are looking for an indoor facility.

 Tell us about one of your proudest swimming achievements / moments.

There are two; firstly, when I swam sub-30-minutes for the Taupo Half Ironman 2km swim. This marked an improvement of over 10 minutes over four-years from when I first started competing in Half Ironman’s. And secondly when I came first in my age group (20-29) for the Kohi Swim Series which is a series of 16 weekly ocean swims during the New Zealand summer.

 Has swimming changed your life? If so, how?

Yes, I’ve met an unbelievable amount of people through swimming, including people who are now very important in my life i.e., partner, flat mates. People who swim are nice, committed, and hardworking individuals and it’s nice to surround yourself with people like that.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself?

I’ve only been swimming properly for four years 😊