SMITH John

South Africa
Rowing
12 Jan 1990
31
Male
GERMISTON
 
South Africa

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
ROW Rowing Men's Four
RSA
South Africa
 10

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Sea Forest Waterway
Men's Four Heat 1
#45
Finished
Sea Forest Waterway
Men's Four Repechage 1
#76
Finished
Sea Forest Waterway
Men's Four Final B
#98
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
Olympic Games
YearLocationL2xL4-
2016Rio de Janeiro, BRA4-
2012London, GBR-1

World Championships
YearLocation2-4-L2xL4-L2-
2019Linz, AUT9----
2018Plovdiv, BUL-10---
2017Sarasota, FL, USA-13---
2015Aiguebelette-le-Lac, FRA--4--
2014Amsterdam, NED--1--
2013Chungju, KOR---6-
2011Bled, SLO---11-
2010Hamilton, NZL---11-
2009Poznan, POL----4

World Cup
RankEventYearLocationResult
2Four2021Lucerne, SUI5:57.21
3Four2018Lucerne, SUI5:58.52
4Four2017Lucerne, SUI5:54.77
9Four2018Belgrade, SRB5:57.81


Legend
DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, EXC - Excluded
:
Bean (row-360.com, 01 Feb 2016)
:
Fishing. (Instagram profile, 26 Aug 2020)
:
Athlete
:
University of Pretoria, South Africa
:
Wife Naydene
:
English
:
Roger Barrow [national], RSA
:
His wife Naydene Smith has represented South Africa in rowing, and finished eighth in the women's pair at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and fifth at the 2015 World Championships in Aiguebelette, France. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 Feb 2020)
:
He took up rowing in 2006. (worldrowing.com, 01 Apr 2016)
:
He played water polo as a child until age 15 when he was kicked in the ear and could no longer play the sport. "So they [the school] told me to pick a new sport. After mocking the rowers for years and telling them to go 'row, row, row the boat' the coach took me to his house. He has an ergo there and he said, 'Jump on here, this will make you fit, this will make you a really good runner'. I was a fairly good distance runner at school, so I jumped on and he said I was a natural and that my technique was perfect, so I became a rower." (The Row Show podcast, 04 Sep 2017)
:
Coaches Paul Jackson and Dustyn Butler. (jacarandafm.com, 24 Jun 2016)
:
"Training should be the hardest thing you ever do because the harder you train the easier racing becomes." (johnsmithgold.com, 01 Jan 2015)
:
He was named 2014 University of Pretoria [Tuks] Sportsman of the Year. He shared the award with teammate James Thompson. (up.ac.za, 17 Oct 2014)

In 2012 he won the Sports Team of the Year Award at the South African Sports Awards. (sascoc.co.za, 29 Apr 2017)

In 2012 he won the World Rowing Crew of the Year Award. (sascoc.co.za, 29 Apr 2017)

General Interest

General
FORMER LIGHTWEIGHT
He competed in lightweight rowing events at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, before making the transition to open weight boats in 2017. "The transition is not as easy as I thought it would be. It's always a struggle when you try to build the power and the strength, but I am enjoying it. It's a new world, a different world. And it's a lot more relaxed, if you're not hungry all the time. I want to be racing with a weight over 85 kilograms over the next couple of years [2018, 2019]. That is definitely going to be a goal of mine. I'm pushing to get there. I think that's where I can be strong and to push out the watts. But it is a different experience. The lightweights have a little more finesse, but the big boys got the power and it's power that trumps over weight unfortunately." (The Row Show podcast, 04 Sep 2017)

Legend
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
Content 1 (removed through CDN)
Content 2 (removed through CDN).
Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos