Newmarket native Carter Cranmer-Smith is willing to travel far to pursue his preferred sport.
The 23-year-old has excelled as part of the Calgary Rowing Club. After only competing in the sport for six years, Cranmer-Smith and his squad decided to take on a big challenge: competing within the Henley Royal Regatta in England on the Thames River.
"Definitely nervous, but pretty excited," he said. "I think we have a good crew here, and if all goes well, we can come away with a win.”
Born and raised in Newmarket, Cranmer-Smith is joining three club teammates to compete in the world-renowned regatta under the four-man Wyfold Challenge Cup category. The competition is ongoing July 2 to 7, with the team the only one in North America to qualify and travel for the single-elimination, 32-team tournament. After two race wins, the team managed a top-eight finish in the competition, losing out to the Marlow Rowing Club.
After improving and winning at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta last year, Cranmer-Smith said the team felt confident enough to travel for this contest.
“We decided we made enough improvements,” he said. “We were ready to step up to a bigger race.”
Cranmer-Smith said he began rowing in 2018. After graduating high school, he pursued the sport at Dalhousie University and soon found a knack for it.
“You can get into the sport a bit later and still be highly competitive,” he said. “One of the things that made it enjoyable, I had a natural fit for it. I have some relative success early in the sport, and winning is, of course, quite a bit more enjoyable.”
Getting to pursue your best times is also appealing, he said.
"The best motivation to keep training is to keep beating yourself and beating your old personal bests, so that’s kind of an addiction factor,” he said. “You’re always building upon yourself, setting new highs and new bests.”
After graduating from university, Cranmer-Smith said he moved to Calgary to work as a banker. The Calgary Rowing Club was the only local option but also one of the best out there, he added.
The club said the team has a strong chance of performing well in the competition.
“Their dedication, rigorous training, and unyielding spirit have prepared them well for this elite event, where they will face some of the best rowing teams from around the globe,” the club said in a news release.
Cranmer-Smith said it felt great to get a couple of wins in the competition.
“It’s great to execute the plan and see the results come into play,” he said.
Although he said nothing is concrete in his rowing future, he wants to compete at the highest level possible.
“Whether that’s as a club athlete for Calgary or whether I can make the jump and possibly for the Canadian national team one day, that would be a dream come true,” he said. “Only time will tell, but just going to row to my best ability.”
