Twelve years ago, when John Smith, as part of the “Oarsome Foursome”, won a gold medal during the London Olympic Games, Chris Baxter did not really take note of the historic moment in South African sport.
Rowing was not his thing when at primary school, but as it is said, things do change. For Baxter (RMB national squad), it did. Next month, he and Smith (RMB national squad) will compete in the men’s pairs at the Paris Olympic Games. It will be the fourth time Smith competes at the Games. For Baxter, it is a first.
Based at Tuks as a rower, Baxter is not allowing himself to be bullied into making any predictions about what might happen during the Paris Games.
“‘There are no cannon fodder when you compete at the Olympics. It is the best against the best. Or, to put it another way, there will be no slow crews in Paris. You must pay attention to every crew when racing.
“What I can say is that South Africans are often seen as the underdogs of international competition. In sports, there is nothing more people like than the story of the underdog causing an upset.”
Baxter and Smith are certainly starting to hold their own. During last year’s World Championships, they finished sixth in the A-final. They were fourth during last month’s World Cup in Lucerne, missing out by a mere 0.11s on medalling.
Smith is genuinely one of the legends of South African rowing. Apart from winning gold at the 2012 Games, he also won gold in 2014 during the World Champs in Amsterdam. The Tuks Alumni was also victorious as an under-23 rower, winning gold in 2010 in Brest during the World Champs. He took a sabbatical after the 2021 Tokyo Games. Smith only seriously started to train again last year.
Baxter is no slouch himself when it comes to rowing. In 2022, during the World Under-23 Championships in Italy, he and Damien Bonhage-Koen won gold in the men’s pairs. Their winning time of 6:19.99 was also a world record.
Still, the Tuks-based rower admits to being slightly intimidated the first time he was told he was going to row with Smith.
“Being at the standard John works at was pretty challenging. John was one of the rowers I looked up to at King Edward School and started to row. The experience he has as a rower is crazy. What was exciting was that the first time we rowed together, I felt a connection in the boat.”
As to what he loves about rowing, Baxter said, “That feeling you get when racing is addictive. As rowers, we want to race. We want to see how we stack up against other crews and test our speed.
“And yeah, just the adrenaline rush you get when sitting in the boat at the start, waiting for the light to turn red to green. When it does, you don’t think anymore. Instinct takes over. It is all about muscle memory. After the 2km race, it almost feels like you are bleeding from your eyes. It is as if your whole body is seizing up. It may sound weird, but that is what every rower looks forward to. We have a saying: ‘Enjoy the hurt sitting in the boat if you want to achieve anything’.”