USRowing’s Justin Best is set to compete in Paris this summer in the men’s four. I had the pleasure of talking to Justin about the highs and lows of competing.
Rowing can be brutal, especially with selection. The quad recently had a disappointing result at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta (FOQR). Can you talk about not just the highs, but also the lows of selection?
It is tough, because you end up competing against your friends for the same spots, and then you have to flip a switch, and all of a sudden you’re teammates again after you’re selected. But up to that point you have to be a ruthless competitor.
I think it’s a necessary part of the sport, because that’s where you see people’s true strength – what do they do in those high pressure situations. The drawback is that you’re friends with these guys you’re competing against. But you have to go, ‘I want to put my foot on your neck and win by open water’. It’s tough seeing guys that are in the system for months, years of their lives and they don’t make the cut, or don’t have everything to show for it.
We sparred against the quad all the time leading into 2023 and even the FOQR. It was heartbreaking but that’s the risk you take when you enter the sport, and something that’s beautiful about it.
I crossed the finish line fourth in Tokyo. Just having that feeling and knowing what it felt like has been a massive push of motivation – whenever I have a tough session or a late night and have to wake up at 5:45am, I remember crossing that finish line and thinking how I felt, knowing that I didn’t medal, and all of a sudden everything feels so much easier.
Everybody wants to go to the Olympics, but there’s a certain amount of seats, and at the end of the day you’re selecting for the absolute best.
Three years on from Tokyo, how are you different as an athlete and person?
I certainly have a lot more confidence going in this time around. I think just knowing what to expect helps – it’s unlike any other regatta anyone will ever go to and you’re surrounded by thousands of athletes, all speaking different languages. Going through the credential process, navigating the village, the media and the press – all of these extra things which definitely occupy your space. All of a sudden that becomes your life for the weeks you’re in the village.
Going in this time, I’ll know what I need to do to focus on the task at hand, which is putting in the best performance for the final. The confidence is there. I know for a fact I’m physically the fittest I’ve ever been in my life – I’ve seen the progress on the water as well now, not just on the erg. We’ve got the metres in the bank, and I think the buy-in with this crew is something pretty special.
With the US gunning for the gold medal in your event, what are your emotions and how do you view your career right now?
I think Matt Pinsent said that the most important Olympics of your life is the next one. Leading up to Tokyo, that was the most important race of my life, and now all of a sudden I have another one.
There’s definitely a lot of emotion this time around, and it’s understandable excitement, and I feel that in terms of career, this is the next step up. There’s a lot of fast boats out there, but there’s definitely a chance that I could win gold out there with this four. That’s a different approach to what we had in Tokyo, where it was like ‘let’s go see what we can do’.
This time around there’s that confidence in the crew. There will also be an added dynamic with spectators allowed to watch – my parents, my girlfriend, her parents, my brother, my friends from college will be there. But with all that being said, I think I’m at the highest point in my rowing career thus far, and the next step is to put down the best competition of my life.
Obviously the majority of your time is spent in high stress conditions, exerting yourself physically and mentally. What do you do in times like these off the water, to help you maintain balance?
I like to listen to music a lot. I like to watch movies, YouTube – it just helps take your mind off it. I’m not working right now, but typically I’ll just plug into work and not think a thing about rowing until I have to go do my second session.
And I do a little bit of visualisation as well, running through what my day looks like leading up to the final race. It makes everything feel familiar – there might be distractions but since you’ve already ‘lived’ it, it almost becomes second nature.
I also love to hang out with the guys – we have a lively group – we’re fortunate the eight qualified, so we hang out with them as well and keep things lighthearted.
You’ve risen through the ranks – starting at Junior World Championships. Thinking back to when you were just starting to compete internationally, what have you learned from being on the biggest stage and what advice would you give to others aspiring to do the same?
For me, I would see these rowers at the elite level as almost more than human; especially when I went to U19 worlds, I remember seeing guys holding crazy splits on the ergs, and I’d think ‘Oh my God, that’s so fast’, but as I went through the rungs and saw myself get faster, I learned that at the end of the day, everyone’s human.
Oli Zeidler may be a freak of nature, but at the end of the day he’s also just a guy. I held those rowers up on these pedestals as a U19 athlete, and as I got more exposure, they were just a bunch of people who were able to drive themselves in ways the average person couldn’t, but beyond that they’re just humans. I’ve had a lot of idols through my rowing career and it’s good to see on the other end, competing on the same level they’re at, they’re people: they just have goals and dreams which align with what mine are.
Everybody’s got a story too, which is really cool because nobody’s is the same – how people get into rowing, what they go through – it’s a beautiful part of the sport. But no matter who you are, getting the boat moving – that’s an art, and people have to spend hours and hours trying to perfect it.
Something that I like to think about is imagining you’re standing at the bottom of a mountain – it’s very intimidating to try and look up at the top. But by taking it a day at a time, you’ll see progress, and if your goals don’t scare you, they’re not big enough yet.
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