- April 28, 2024
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Kennet Lefkovic, 29, has autism and lacks expressive language. But he’s always been able to express himself through sports.
The Palm Coast resident was a standout swimmer at Matanzas High School and went on to become a Special Olympics champion.
Now, he’s set to compete in the Ironman Florida triathlon in Panama City Beach on Nov. 4.
Lefkovic has already completed a half Ironman at the Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in Cambridge, Maryland, on June 11. His time of five hours, 42 minutes, 39 seconds ranked 520th out of 1,698 athletes.
The Ironman 70.3 Eagleman included a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bicycle ride and a 13.1-mile run. The Ironman Florida doubles each of those distances for a total of 140.6 miles.
When the Special Olympics in Florida added sprint triathlons to its program five years ago, Lefkovic loved it, his mother, Edita Lefkovic, says.
But Kennet outgrew the sprint distances. He’s always preferred the longer events. The Ironman Foundation sponsored Kennet at the Eagleman. He was one of six athletes to compete in the newly created Physically Challenged/Intellectual Disability Open Division. Four of the six were Floridians who had competed in Special Olympics events. They all finished the half Ironman.
The PC/ID athletes are paired with an accomplished triathlete, who swims, rides and runs at their pace. Kennet was paired with Jeff Fejfar, who will also be his partner in Panama City Beach. The 1% Foundation is sponsoring Kennet at Ironman Florida.
Edita said Kennet seemed like a different person at the Eagleman.
“I almost didn’t recognize him,” she says. “He was so calm, he was so adult. He had no issues being around so many athletes.”
Kennet was diagnosed with autism when he was 3. Edita, who was a teacher in Czechoslovakia before she immigrated to the United States, decided to put all her efforts into teaching Kennet. She discovered that he had no problem learning. His difficulty was in conveying his thoughts.
“I wanted to give him as much knowledge as possible,” she says. “I was questioning myself what was best to start with, and I thought sports was the best choice, that it was going to actually open the door for him to be part of society, and I was right.”
He learned all the sports and especially took to swimming. By 6, he knew all the swimming strokes, Edita says.
After the Lefkovics moved from New York to Palm Coast, Kennet joined the Daytona Speed swim club. Coach Steve Lochte — the father of Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte — gave Kennet a scholarship.
“That's where he started to blossom,” Edita says. “And that’s when I realized all the information goes in, but he had difficulties getting it out. So I knew that he is capable of a lot more that he was showing me.”
If Kennet finishes the Ironman Florida, he will be eligible to enter the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in October, 2024.
