‘A natural fit’: the local rower competing in the famous British Royal Regatta

Newmarket native Carter Cranmer-Smith is willing to travel far and wide to play his favorite sport.

The 23-year-old excelled as part of the Calgary Rowing Club. After just six years of competing in the sport, Cranmer-Smith and his team decided to take on a big challenge: competing in England’s Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames.

“Definitely nervous, but pretty excited,” he said. “We have a good crew here and if everything goes well, we can win.”

Born and bred in Newmarket, Cranmer-Smith joins his three club mates to compete in the world-renowned Wyfold Challenge Cup four-man regatta. The competition runs from July 2 to 7, with the team being the only one from North America to qualify and travel to the 32-team single-elimination tournament. After two race wins, the team managed to finish in the top eight in the competition, losing to Marlow Rowing Club.

After improving and winning last year at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, Cranmer-Smith said the team felt confident enough to travel for this contest.

“We decided we had made enough improvements,” he said. “We were ready to go on a bigger run.”

Cranmer-Smith said she started rowing in 2018. After graduating high school, she took up the sport at Dalhousie University and soon found a knack for it.

“You can come into the sport a little later and still be extremely competitive,” he said. “One of the things that made him enjoyable, we had a natural fit for him. I’m relatively successful at the beginning of this sport, and winning is, of course, much more enjoyable.”

It’s also appealing to get to follow your best moments, he said.

“The best motivation to keep training is to beat yourself and beat your old personal bests, so that’s kind of addictive,” he said. “You’re always building on yourself, setting new highs and new records.”

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 good chance of doing well in the competition.

“Their dedication, rigorous training and unwavering spirit have prepared them well for this elite event where they will compete against some of the best rowing teams from around the world,” the club said in a press release.

Cranmer-Smith said it was 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.

While he said nothing is set in stone in his rowing future, he wants to compete at the highest level possible.

“Whether it’s a club athlete for Calgary or if I can make the jump and possibly the Canadian national team one day, that would be a dream come true,” he said. “Only time will tell, but I’ll just canoe to the best of my ability.”