The Swart Brothers – Jack & Stephen by Russell Jones
This book is number 8 of New Zealand Legends published by Kennett Brothers 2019.
“I don’t think Jack realised how good he was …. He was one of the guys that could ride a kilometre time trial, ride the hour-record and equally ride the biggest tours we had, and there’s not to many riders that can perform at that level and then win the whole lot …… Stephen had a different ability all together. Both were fantastic bike riders in their own right… up there with the best NZ cyclists.” By Max Vertongen
Frankie Andreu had this to say about Stephen. “He was known as a great team player … He could be depended on for his teamwork and toughness. He followed team instructions and worked selflessly many many times to help the team win.”
When I started reading The Swart Brothers – Jack & Stephen’s book, I couldn’t put it down. The first half of the book focused on Jack’s riding career, the second half on Stephen’s riding career. It makes for enthralling reading. It describes their journey through the different classification levels; their highs and lows of training and competing; and the cycling battles with many well-known local and international cyclists, both here in NZ and overseas.
There are many personal quotations from both Jack and Stephen that give you the feeling they were talking directly to you. Along with quotations from coaches, fellow riders and other people involved in their careers both locally and internationally, which give you an additional insight into what happened, responses to what happened and the decisions and choices that were made as a result.
There are a number of black and white photographs included (from Swart Collection): of race wins, various teams, random sights, along with a beautiful photograph of Jack and his twin daughters – it’s so cute. For both Jack and Stephen their families were always involved and played an important part in their careers.
The chapter titles were captivating, for example “Knuckling Down to It”, “Olympic Dreaming”, “Living the Life”, “Try and Try Again”, “Passing the Baton”, “Go East, Young Man”, “Back in the Frying Pan”. You learned life as an elite cyclist was not easy, but it was something they both loved and were very good at.
They were legends, you learnt how focused, determined, hardworking and what mental toughness both men had. Their ability to break-away from the peloton and stay-away was extra-ordinary. These men were and are “legends” of New Zealand cycling. An insightful read, and I highly recommend it to both cyclists and non-cyclists. I say non-cyclists because a good friend (a non-cyclist) who read my review said she’d love to now read the book. So, if and when you read this book, I’d love to hear your comments.
Where can I buy the book in NZ?
Till next time – GoldGard Gal 🙂
I’m pretty sure Jack Swart’s wife was a teacher at St Peter Chanel when Branwen and Gethin were there. Jack came to school to talk to the children. Primary school children they were but very excited about Jack bring there.
Patricia Rose