Jean van der Westhuyzen Interview
It's time to get your canoe and kayak back on today as we sit down with Aussie Gold Medallist Jean van der Westhuyzen to learn about his incredible career and recent success at the Tokyo Olympics! We find out from Jean about his experiences growing up in South Africa and what brought about his move to Australia. We also find out more about his progression in the sport and just how he was able to get to his first Olympics at such a young age. Added to this we find out more about the experiences of winning an Olympic Gold Medal and how he hopes that will spur him on to even more success at future Olympics. Paddle your way into some more entertainment with another great interview!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, an Olympics podcast coming to you once again for another athlete interview. And we're returning to a sport that we haven't had someone on in quite some time. The sport of canoe slash kayak, kayak slash canoe paddling. Let's be honest. Let's just call it that. And so excited to be able to speak to our first ever Olympic medallist from this sport and an Olympic gold medallist. If you don't mind, Jean van der Westhuyzen, of course, part of the pairing with him and Tom Green that won the gold in the K-2 1000 in Tokyo earlier this year. An amazing event. We were so excited watching that one. And I remember celebrating a lot of that on the day that it happened, right towards the end of the Olympics. But this is a great chat with Jean learning a little bit about his background growing up in South Africa, getting into the sport, moving to Australia, pursuing it, his Olympic dreams. The moment when he won the gold medal, what he's done with the gold medal and kind of hopes moving forward, as well as talking about fighting in a boat. What's it like to kind of have a bit of a quarrel with your teammate? How you sort it out? How it can also probably help you moving forward? And also bring us up to date on a new event that's happening in Paris, one that maybe is more suited to a certain Jess Fox rather than himself. And also going over a little bit about his allegiances when it comes to Australia versus South Africa and our heated sporting rivalry in several different sports. So great chat here with Jean, and we are here to play it for you right now. Here is our chat with Olympic Gold Medal winning kayaker Jean van der Westhuyzen.
BEN WATERWORTH: Always exciting to bring on guests to Off The Podium to learn a little bit more about their careers, their Olympic journeys and everything else in between. And it's always a little bit more exciting when we can say that our guest just happens to have a nice piece of jewellery that they can wear around their neck. Our guest today is an Olympic gold medallist being part of the K2 1000 metre team that took the gold in Tokyo fairly recently. And I'm very excited to learn a little bit more about that journey, the journey of getting to the games and everything else in between. Please welcome to Off The Podium, Jean van der Westhuyzen. Jean, first of all, pleasure to have you here on the show. Do you getting sick of being introduced as an Olympic gold medallist? I mean, do you just want people to keep saying that to you all the time?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Oh, no, I gotta think you can never get tired of it. It kind of still feels a bit weird, but hey, look, I'll take it where it comes. So yeah, well done for pronouncing the name. I'm very impressed you didn't even have to ask before. It's probably one of the first times I've experienced that.
BEN WATERWORTH: I really need to just, when people say that to me on this show, just take it and be like, you're welcome and move on. But I will say that I do write things out phonetically. I do practise several times, because if you ever listen to any of our coverage during actual Olympics, I'm telling you now, you don't want to hear how I'm pronouncing your name or anybody else's name. So I'll take the credit where it's due. So I appreciate that, thank you. What is the worst that anyone has tried? Like has anyone just not even bothered to even attempt to pronounce it and called you like, Jean der van der Westhuyzen or something like that? Like just go for it or something?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Oh yeah, all the time, all the time. Honestly, I don't really mind if you call me Jean, John, Sean, John occasionally. So you get the whole bunch, but no, it's all right. It doesn't really matter.
BEN WATERWORTH: Works it out.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Works it out.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is it like a male thing? Like I know like my last name's not exactly super sort of difficult. People actually read my name. It's pretty easy to pronounce, but I'll get Butterworth, Waterworks. You'll get random things. Like do you sometimes just get a letter and go, how do you even get that as my name?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: You know what? I just accept it. Whatever comes, comes. And you know what? I just have a laugh and it's all good.
BEN WATERWORTH: Works out that way. Now, you obviously were born in South Africa, grew up there. I would love to sort of know about sort of this journey, how you got to the sport of canoeing. I mean, kind of was this something growing up that your family was involved in, that you somehow got involved in? I mean, kind of what turned you into an Olympic canoe athlete?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Well, honestly, it was just offered as a school sport at my junior school back in my small town of Franschhoek. And I thought this would be a pretty cool sport to do. It wasn't like the rugby, cricket, tennis type of stuff. And it was a little bit different. Didn't know much about it. And I thought it might be a nice idea to hang out on the water with a couple of mates. So yeah, I kind of just took it up because I thought it was different and cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, simple. And is sort of the sport biggish in South Africa? Or is it kind of something that many people are involved in?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: It's not really a massive sport. Like you get, I think, ocean ski paddling is quite big. And then you got like things like the doozy where you have like 1,400 entries, I think. So the river races are pretty big and the ocean ski racing is big as well. But the sprinting side of things is just probably a little bit quieter in South Africa, where maybe in Australia, the sprinting is, is, you know, it's probably the same. Ski paddling is probably a bit more well-known in Australia, but there's a lot more prestige around an Olympic Games event, I would say.
BEN WATERWORTH: So outside of, you know, when you gave it a try at school, were you involved in many other sports at the time? Were you doing the standard rugby and cricket sort of?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I was the stock standard rugby, cricket, hockey, tennis. I love a lot of tennis, athletics, did everything. And yes, I wasn't like, I just kind of, you know, slipped into kayaking. That's all I did. I did the rest and yeah, was pretty happy playing every sport, to be honest. I just really loved it.
BEN WATERWORTH: And was there sort of an ambition sort of through the sports that you were playing for an Olympic? Like, was this sort of something as a kid that you sort of looked at and go, wow, that would be amazing to be in Olympian one day?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Honestly, I think just when I was really young, I thought being a rugby player would have been cool or a cricketer, just because you watch them on TV all the time. So I really loved those sports. But once I kind of started slowly getting a couple of good results as a junior, you think, oh, this is something I'm good at. And you kind of slowly just progress. And then, you know, I found out that it was an Olympic sport. And then all of a sudden, your Olympic dream is kind of born, essentially. You go, wow, maybe I want to go to the Olympics. And I think that's where, well, I'd like to think that's where most of Olympians change styles when they're just a young kid watching the games or watching one of their role models.
BEN WATERWORTH: What is Olympic coverage like in South Africa? Is it kind of like in Australia, where it's sort of two weeks of nonstop coverage? I mean, is it a little bit different?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Absolutely. I think it's very similar. Like it's two weeks of nonstop coverage and everybody gets around it. This African team is definitely not as successful as the Australian team, but there's definitely a lot of coverage, a lot of hype around the Olympic Games. So yeah, it's definitely just as exciting, I'd say.
BEN WATERWORTH: So then what brings about the move to Australia? Was it to pursue the career more? Was it sort of family reasons? Kind of what brought you to this part of the world?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Well, I think my family was always going to move abroad and I think it was always most likely going to be Australia just for a better life in terms of opportunity for us kids in our careers. And for me, it was just about pursuing my tertiary education and also about also knowing that if I moved to Australia, there was opportunity to better my kayaking as well. Just with the facilities and the setup that they have over here, or we have over here, it was a huge opportunity. And I thought, why not?
BEN WATERWORTH: And pursue it obviously kind of, it worked a little bit that way. I mean, kind of when you got here, was there sort of much of a, when you're seeing these sort of facilities and kind of the training aspects of it too, I mean, sort of how did that compare to what you were used to at the time in South Africa?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Oh, it's completely different. You know, Australia, we have such a great setup here. Everything is really on the tip of our fingers for us to get a good result. We have great coaches, sports scientists, recovery. Where South Africa, it really is all up to yourself if you wanna make something happen. You know, there's no coach waiting for you in the morning because I went to boarding schools. So I had to drive down an hour to training in the Arvos to get to some good water in the city. Otherwise I just trained up around a little dam. So yeah, it's really just up to yourself to make it happen. You know, if you wanted to go to training in the morning or you wanted to make the drive down to the city and the afternoon was kind of up to yourself and where you come to Australia and there's just a whole team of people around you wanting to make you do get better results. So yeah, it's really different and coming from South Africa into that Australia environment was just so amazing. It was so cool for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: I believe you sort of dabbled a bit sort of in marathon and then sort of sprint sort of side of things, but when you got to Australia, shifting a bit more to sprint, I mean, did that come down to mainly sort of Olympic aspirations? Kind of like what kind of changed that, I guess, aspect from that side to the other?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I think as a junior, you kind of can do all these other disciplines. You can do, you know, river paddling, marathon paddling, sprinting, and get good results in all of them. But when you get to a senior level and you're trying to pursue an Olympic Games, it's just, I think the level is just that little, that little bit more above non-Olympic sports, just because of the emphasis on the Olympic Games and the amount of athletes from Europe trying to get great results, right? So when I moved to Australia, I knew I just wanted to pursue sprinting, and I knew it's gonna take up all my time, and that I wouldn't be able to pursue stuff like ski paddling or down river paddling. Just wasn't gonna work because what the sport requires of you to get a good result is you're 100%. There's no space to do other things really. So yeah, I was committed to it, and I really wanted to go to the Olympic Games, and I always loved the sprinting anyway. So it was a easy transition.
BEN WATERWORTH: What was the point where you sort of felt that the Olympics were a realistic goal? I mean, sort of was sort of, obviously, I don't know if you're too young for Rio or kind of like was that a realistic opportunity or kind of was it always a firm set on Tokyo being the goal?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I think my first World Championship medal as a junior was when I think I realised that I might be able to make it. Obviously, it's two different levels, but you kind of get, I suppose, a bit of confidence about yourself that you kind of on the right track or the right trajectory to possibly, you know, achieving things that you might not have thought before you're capable of. So it was probably in 2040 when I won my first World Championship Medal, that I thought, oh, this is maybe something for me and maybe in Olympic Games is something that's possible. And from that moment, really, I just kind of dropped the other sports I was doing and just focused on kayaking. And 2020 was always a goal for me. We are still in school, so I was a bit young. And in our sport, you don't really go to Olympic Games at 16, 17 years old. I think there's only, maybe there's been a handful. I'm not too sure. Not that I know of, but yeah, 2020 was always gonna be the goal for me, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: It always, yeah, it's interesting sort of when I look at sort of kayaking and you do see the ages of athletes. It does seem to be one of these sports where older athletes kind of, it's where you're at your peak sort of, and it's the opposite in obviously some sports. So, I mean, kind of you work towards a goal, I can imagine, of Tokyo, knowing that this is a journey that realistically could go on for multiple Olympics, given, I guess, how it kind of works in the sport, right?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Yeah, I think so. I think, if you kind of look where most athletes get their medals, it's probably around that 25 to 30 markers where they're gonna get some of their better results. Look, some guys have done really well in their 30s, and some guys have done really well younger, but I suppose maybe that sweet spot is between the 25 and 30 mark.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're peaking early, basically.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I hope so, I hope so, but yeah, I still think there's room for myself to grow and get stronger and fitter and build more endurance. So yeah, hopefully there's a bit of a longer career ahead of myself and hopefully another Olympic Games to come up as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: We've talked to a few roles on the show and we've only sort of spoken to one parent, we spoke to Elise and Jordan Wood a couple of months back, sort of about their journey in the sport. But there seems to be, and correct me if I'm wrong though, a little bit more of an ability to go from say a K1 to a K4. Like you can kind of alternate a little bit more than maybe you would in rowing. I mean, is that true? Or do you kind of have to eventually go, no, I'm gonna focus more on it. I'm a better, you know, a pair kayaker than I would be a solo. Like can you transition more or do you sort of have to solely focus on one eventually?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I think, yeah, maybe it's, I don't really know rowing too well, but I think it is maybe a bit easier to transition into, you know, K1s, K2s, K4s in kayaking. Each boat is totally different and requires a different skill set and a different kind of way of paddling, I suppose. And it's really hard to race two events, especially racing like a K2 and a K4. Where maybe racing a K1 and a K2 or K1 and a K4 is a little bit easier. But jumping across, you know, doing two events, it's hard either way. And it's tricky, you know, each boat is completely different and requires a different skill set. So maybe it is a bit easier than rowing. I'm not too sure. I don't know a whole bunch about rowing, but yeah, you can kind of hop in and out of boats as you feel like it, but to get good results in two events is pretty tough.
BEN WATERWORTH: So you're basically saying that Lisa Carrington is even more of a freak than we already know, essentially, what she's been meant to achieve.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: She's absolutely unbelievable. She's an amazing, amazing athlete, just to get those results is, yeah, it's unbelievable.
BEN WATERWORTH: So in terms of then meeting Tom, kind of how does that partnership go about? Are you sort of placed together? Because coaches think that you two are gonna work together well on a boat. Do you know each other and go, hey, let's kind of hook up, let's try something. So how did that relationship begin?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: It's really just all up to the coaches, to be honest. We're only 22 years old, so they just have a world of experience and we kind of go with what they feel is gonna click and can be a good combination. And yeah, they thought myself and Tom could possibly be a good pair. So it's not like we come and we go, oh, let's paddle K2. It was definitely not like that at all. It was just the coach who said, hey, you guys are gonna try it in the K2. You're gonna see if this can maybe work. We feel there might be something good that can come out of this combination. And yeah, it's really just as simple as that, to be honest.
BEN WATERWORTH: And did you, had you known him beforehand? Like kind of where you're sort of on the same team?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Yeah, of course. I've always, since I came to Australia, I've been training with Tommy. So yeah, I knew him well before we hopped in the boat together. So, you know, we're good mates, and it was pretty easy to be honest with you. There was no really dramas.
BEN WATERWORTH: And how is that kind of then, does that help? Kind of obviously, I can imagine there sort of needs to be some sort of relationship where you can talk outside the boat. I imagine you don't want to get out of the boat and go, fuck you, mate, I'm going home now. Like you did shit today. Like you want to kind of have some sort of relationship with the guy beforehand, right?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Yeah, well, we were, like I said, you know, he's been training in the same group as me ever since I came to Australia. So yeah, we were good mates and we have a really good relationship and honest relationship. You know, we're not, people think, you look at partnerships and it's all just, you know, sunshine and fairies and it's all happy, glappy, but it's really not. We've had our fair share of blowups and fights and arguments, but we always leave that on the water or in the shed and we walk out, mates, and we shake hands and we move on. And I think that's why we've been able to remain honest with each other and work past those probably difficult times where we maybe think the one guy's doing something wrong, but it's actually just us, you know, as individuals being a bit silly. So yeah, we have a really good relationship. We're great mates off the water, we're good mates on the water, we're honest with each other. It's not perfect. I don't think any good relationship is perfect. So yeah, it's healthy, I think.
BEN WATERWORTH: What is a blow up in kayaking? Like it comes out to your stroke rate was shit, like you didn't do this in the back end, like kind of like, what is a standard fight when it comes to a fight between teammates?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Oh, between myself and Tommy, I don't know if one of us are late or one of us is stuffing around. If, you know, we're not giving, if we're not doing our job on the water, if we're not following the training session properly, stuff like that. And it's just really small things that can kind of tick each other off just because, you know, pretty stressful environment. You want to get things right. I mean, one guy's not on point. Yeah, we kind of get under each other's skin. And sometimes it's me, sometimes it's him. But yeah, you know what? It's good to have those little arguments and work past them. And I think they make you better, to be honest.
BEN WATERWORTH: I was gonna say that. I can imagine it's kind of a character building though, when you can kind of get through those. I mean, you don't want that to happen in the midway point of an Olympic final. You want it to happen a little bit before, get over it and kind of, I guess, push towards the success that you're both striving towards.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Absolutely. You know, you gotta work through those things, right? It's probably never gonna be perfect. But if you're hard away from those things or you don't wanna address certain problems, they're probably gonna stay there and they're probably gonna affect the boat or they're probably gonna affect your training. So you might as well just get them out, have honest conversation, have a blow up and work past it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now you, I believe, made your first senior national team in 2019 before ultimately securing your spot in the Olympics sort of a year later. I mean, kind of it seemed to come along pretty quickly when you sort of joined this. I mean, was, as you said, Tokyo was kind of the goal, but was this kind of a bit surprising that all of a sudden you're making a senior team and then boom, within a year, you qualify for Olympics? Or was that just again, the path you'd set yourself? It kind of was, hey, I'm doing what I set out to achieve.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I think so, I think that was always my goal. Obviously, when you make the team, it's a bit of a surprise and it's cool because you've achieved your goal. And for me, yeah, qualifying for the Olympics was always a dream for me. So no matter if I expected it or not, I never expect anything, to be honest. I really just start there and race hard and see what the result is. Obviously, you have an expectation of yourself and your performances, but you never just expect to walk into an Olympic team or to make an Olympic team. I think that that type of mindset will, I don't think it will probably serve you too well, but at least it's never served me well. And yeah, I think everything that's kind of come to me has been a bit of a surprise. And although I've prepared quite well, and I thought sometimes I've had a good shot at making my first senior team or making the Olympic team. It's always a nice surprise to actually make it and achieve your goal. So yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did having an extra year help sort of towards ultimately winning that gold medal? Do you feel that you could have still been in that position had the Olympics gone as planned in 2020?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Absolutely, I think it definitely helped. Just because we're such a young crew, we would have only been 21 last year where we had an extra year to prepare now. And I mean, a lot changed in our boat. I sat in front, Tommy was in the back, in the back, and if it was a year earlier, it would have been the opposite way around. Tommy would have been in the front, I would have been in the back, and who knows what the result would have been. So I think it was, yeah, it was crucial for us, another year of development to get stronger, fitter, and ultimately faster. It was tough, absolutely, to train at that level and have that kind of, not pressure, but just knowing that that level of competition is coming up. But we're still quite young, and we knew that every year is gonna help us. Even these next couple of years, I think there's so much room for development and for us to grow as athletes. So I think we were stoked. We realised there was an opportunity of another year, and we kind of wanted to grab it with both hands.
BEN WATERWORTH: How does that decision come about in terms of the positioning? Is it a case of you try it one way and go, oh, maybe we can go? Is that a coaching decision again? Kind of, how does that choice come about?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Just a coaching decision again. Many of the decisions we make have come from our coaches. And that's not because we don't have a voice or we can't speak up, just because we haven't been in the sport for nearly as long as them. They've kind of seen it all. We have a really good, our two main coaches, Jimmy and Smithy, I think they have a really good mix. Jimmy's been to three Olympic Games. Smithy's raced and won himself and been coached under Jimmy. So there's a really good mix of, you know, a fresh kind of athlete coach and then a coach that's been around for a while. So they kind of know what works and what could work. So it's really just kind of listening to them and following their guidance, especially when we're so young and we don't have a lot of experience under our belt.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was there much, I mean, you and Tom sort of based in the same area. So were you able to still train sort of during things like lockdowns and kind of all that sort of stuff to Tokyo? Or did you have to kind of take other methods to do sort of some virtual training or something along those lines in that?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: We were actually pretty lucky. We both sat on the Gold Coast. So it was never really too bad on the Gold East. So we kind of just kept on training where we could. Yeah, there was a period where we couldn't train with each other, but we had to do some stuff at home. But majority of the time we were training with each other on the water. And I'm just kind of carrying on as per usual.
BEN WATERWORTH: We always love hearing sort of little things around the Olympic experience, soaking in the atmosphere, getting your uniform. If you went to the opening ceremony, things like that, do you take those opportunities to soak those moments in? Or are you sort of so set on competition that it's kind of, hey, like I'll do what I can and maybe soak it in after my race?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I think there are moments that you do soak in, like getting your uniform, that's a really special moment. But for Tommy and I, like we had a discussion that, you know, when we went over to Tokyo, it was gonna be nothing but just focusing on our race, when we got there. So if there's any media or, you know, like gonna go get a picture at the Olympic rings or, you know, having a look at the Olympic village and getting amongst the vibe and everything, that's happening. That's not something we wanted to do and what we wanted to be a part of while we were racing. So it was really just getting into the village, getting our stuff unpacked, going to the dining hall, the eating hall, going to the course. And that was it for the first five, five, six days while we were there while we were racing. And then the two, three days we had after, you know, we could go take the photos, we could go explore and, you know, chat with other people and kind of soak up a bit of the vibe. But while I was there, you know, some people are more comfortable. They want to maybe go take a photo here or there, or go for a walk and see all these different things, where Fasso was just getting in, focusing on the job at hand. And once that was done, we could go enjoy the other things around the edges.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I've also imagined that, not that you're, I mean, you're at your first Olympics, you're thinking about your Olympics then and there, but given your age, given you're so young, you hope to go to multiple Olympics. I mean, these are things that I can imagine that, come Paris, LA, Brisbane, that these are possibly things that you can maybe soak in a little bit more, because I guess you've experienced one, you've got a gold medal. So like, I mean, you still want to win more, but I guess you can probably appreciate a little bit more the more you go.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Honestly, I don't think so. I think my mentality will be the same. I'd want to keep it the same. I want to have a identical approach to the next two games if I decide to maybe try to go to 2028, or at least try to pursue them. Going to an Olympic Games, you can never say is a guarantee. But I think I want to keep a similar mentality. I don't really want to kind of soak up the village. While I'm racing there, I kind of just really want to focus on what's at hand. And I don't think I'd want to change really much of what I did in Tokyo. I think it worked well. And that's, again, you know, advice that our team gave us and our coaches gave us was that there's a lot of distractions and there's always going to be time for that afterwards when you're done racing. So, you know, if I had to go, if I did have the opportunity to go to 2024, I'd want to adopt a similar approach and only soak up, I suppose, the atmosphere once you're done.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because I think the one thing that's unique about your sport, too, is that while, you know, you look at a lot of sports that, say, are involved in a Commonwealth Games or, you know, depending on the region, a European Games, a Pan Am Games, like some athletes in sports get that opportunity to experience a multi-sport event and kind of realise what it is. But for you guys, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, Jean, like there's not really an opportunity for you to go to a multi-sport games outside of, say, a World Championship, where clearly that's just, you know, different events in that sport. So that in itself, I can imagine, is why maybe coaches are saying that to you, because you're not sort of susceptible to experiencing being in a village with some, you know, swimmers and some runners, opposed to they're used to it all the time, because that kind of, they go to those events often.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Suppose so, like, yeah, the Olympic Games is so different to like a world championship, just because, yeah, the world champs is just, it's just, it's just kayaking over there. We don't have like a comm games or games or anything like that. So for us, it's really just, it's really just dialling in, dialling in when we get to Olympic Games, because we understand the distraction that's there and how you can kind of get pulled to all these different things. So yeah, I suppose it is a bit different like that. And yeah, like I said, it's just really kind of focusing on what you're out there to do.
BEN WATERWORTH: Obviously, any athlete going into Olympics wants to walk away with a gold medal. Of course, that's the ultimate goal. But do you and Tom go into that and that's our goal? We are going to win this goal? Do you kind of set yourself smaller targets and work your way up? I mean, what were you thinking ahead of the event?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Oh, look, I think absolutely, you know, in training, you set yourself smaller goals. And I don't know, I suppose for me, I've never been a massive goal setter of trying to reach certain, I don't know, points in the season. I think for me, I kind of the training group sets a standard, our coaches set the standard. That's where we need to be. There's certain times we need a hit in training, and that's just always going to be the standard I'll go for. And of course, I think that's the type of environment if we wanted to create a training was that, you know, we're not just going there to make a final, but we really wanted to push for the medals and push for really good results. I think that's healthy and that's what we really wanted. Not to say that you're always going to get it, but I'd like to think we always try to win every race we compete in. I think that's the goal. So, yeah, of course, you know, going to the Olympics, you want to win the Olympic gold. At least that's what you strive for. You're not always going to get there. You know, things happen, but lucky enough and fortunately enough, we were able to get the top step of the podium, which is awesome.
BEN WATERWORTH: Obviously, in the first heat, you do pretty well. And then ultimately, you're also up against the German pairing you ultimately beat in the final as well. I mean, is that helpful that you're kind of up against such a strong pairing in that opening heat, so you can kind of, I guess, put yourselves in where you're at? So then when it comes to the final, you've already beaten them and you can kind of understand a little bit. So it kind of helps in the long run.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Yeah, definitely. I think moving into that heat, you know, we'd already had two days of racing in our K1s and we'd had disappointing results, both myself and Tommy. We really felt we were capable of a lot more in our K1s and just didn't put a good performance together for those first two days. So it was kind of, you could almost say it would have been daunting going into a heat with, you know, Germany and then a slowback. So you could arguably say ranked second going into the game since they came second in the Euros and second in the World Cup to the Germans. So yeah, just didn't really look into that too much. And not worrying about who was in our race and what their name was and what they'd achieved, but just kind of focusing on ourselves, knowing what we were capable of, both as individuals and as a crew, and not letting the name and the moment and the crews kind of get the better of us, but just go out there and do what we knew we were capable of.
BEN WATERWORTH: So what was that mindset then, getting through the heat, getting through the semi, you're into the final. I mean, do you sort of remember what was in the mind? Was it just focused on the start line? Like, this is what we're here to do. I mean, kind of take us through what that moment was like at the beginning.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I think, yeah, the only race that truly matters if you get there is the A final. So, like, for example, in the heat, we crossed the line, we beat the Germans and the Stovaks, and we got an Olympic record. And that was a cool moment to celebrate for like five, ten minutes, but it was just shutting that down, recovering, getting a good feed in, resting, and coming back the next day. And it was the same story in the semifinal. We had a pretty good race in the semifinal. And again, it wasn't going crazy. Oh, that was amazing. That was so cool. But really just trying to stay relaxed. Same thing. Get off the water, recover, and get ready ultimately for the big one, which was the final. And then, yeah, getting to the final, we just wanted to keep the same mindset. It's just another race. We understood the pressure around it. And that every crew was going to be nervous and feeling that moment on the start line. It's something we were aware of. And we just, I think we're quite passionate, I guess, of not letting that get to us. You know, in the K1s, it may have seemed like the racing or the pressure got to us, but it was really just, we just didn't put good performances together. And we knew that if we just stayed calm, stayed in our lane, and had a good race, we'd be in for a shot. So, I suppose the rest is kind of history ready.
BEN WATERWORTH: I rewatched it just before the interview, and I remember watching it live, just an incredible race. And we said this a lot during the show, during the Olympics, that it always baffles me that Rowan gets all the attention from Australia so much, and then kind of people almost forget that, hey, canoe kayaks are a thing too. And to me, it's more exciting, it's more entertaining. And I remember watching it live, because this is kind of at that point of the Olympics where sort of the swimming was over, sort of, you know, all these hopes were sort of done, and Australia was kind of winding down on a successful, I think we were focusing on the hockey that night, the Cookebarras and the gold medal. So watching it live, it was kind of like, wow, like it's sort of, we always say there's like, almost like an unexpected goal that Australia's not focused on. So it was so amazing to kind of watch, just sort of live. I mean, what was that like when you were able to check your phone and kind of see the reaction that kind of your friends and family, but also I can imagine a lot of sort of people that are watching were sort of reaching out to your social media and sort of sending you messages and everything like that.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Oh, it's just unbelievable, to be honest. Just such a surreal moment. And it's really just a celebration of everybody. You know, we crossed the line, but there's so many people that support you back here along the way that have been shouting for you over the past couple of days, months, years. So it was really just a celebration of so many people. And you're picking up your phone, and your phone's obviously going absolutely off, but it's just about contacting, you know, your family, your girlfriend, and those closest to you. And obviously our coaches are there, our family couldn't be there, and the support staff, which was a special moment to share with them as well, because they've definitely been there through the highs and the lows, and the tough days and the great days. So they really kind of stood the test with you. So to celebrate and give something back to them was special.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you always think you had the Germans, like as they were closing in on you right at the end? Did you just think, no, we've got this, they're not coming for us. We've got the gold.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: No, I don't think you don't think about that in the race at all. You just race your best, and crossing the line, it's going to be what it's going to be. It's never really in the race that I think we had it. And that's something we really wanted to train for, is always racing to the line, always, always, always, no matter what position you're in. So, yeah, of course, I could see the Germans in my peripheral vision, and I knew it was going to be a fight to the line, it was going to be a tough race. So, yeah, of course, I knew that, but I was just kind of holding our own sticking to our race plan. And yeah, I suppose we got a, not lucky, but we're fortunate to get that one over the Germans.
BEN WATERWORTH: Other things too, which I think are fascinating about the fact that you were the very first pair to win the event for Australia ever in the Olympic Games. I mean, won a couple of medals in it previously. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, the first time that Australia had won a gold in a two-person event too at the Olympics as well. So I mean, kind of little things like that, that kind of create a bit of history. I mean, do you kind of look at those two and reflect that, you know, we're a bit of a groundbreaking pair here. We've kind of cracked a bit of a duck that goes back to 1936 and Australia's never been able to get a gold in this event.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Oh, absolutely. I think it's, you know, it's super, super special. Just to be amongst that group of people that have been able to win Olympic gold for Australia. And yeah, so Australia had won a gold medal in the K1. They'd won a gold medal in the K4. And now we could put the K2 on the list as well, which is obviously so special. And yeah, it's really just a privilege and honour, to be very honest. I mean, those athletes are amazing. I think the gold medal winners, I think the first was Clint Robinson, then it was Kenny, and then it was the K4 boys in London, and now it was us. So just to be kind of amongst that group of people, it's unbelievable. To be honest, it doesn't feel real. It almost doesn't feel like we should be. So to add to that group is, yeah, it's just so special.
BEN WATERWORTH: Got to ask a question here. I'm seeing on the program for Paris, there's an event called the Xtreme K-1. Now, what the heck is this? Is this a thing? And does it sound as amazing as it is?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: That's kind of in the slalom space, the whitewater stuff. So that's going to be Jess Fox's event that she's probably going to go for in the next game. So that's definitely nothing to do with me, but I think you'll definitely have to keep an eye out for herself. She's been on such fine form the last couple years and such an amazing athlete. So definitely going to have to watch out for her name.
BEN WATERWORTH: I was going to see if that was some weird combination maybe of the slalom and sprint. Let's combine the two.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Unfortunately not, no.
BEN WATERWORTH: I don't know how you do that, but just like a sprint in whitewater, in a straight line or something along those lines. I mean, look, always standard question when we get medallists on the show, what do you do with the medal? Is it something that you're just constantly on the table right now? I can imagine you're doing school appearances and things like that. Is it something that you hope to maybe make a display or something along those lines or don't know yet?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: No, no, no, no, not a display or anything like that. It's just something I keep in my box, in my drawer. And I think it's quite cool to share it amongst other people and your family and your friends. So no, it won't be put on display or anything like that, but definitely not.
BEN WATERWORTH: What about the stamps? I love finding this about the gold medallists. Do your family go and buy a couple hundred sheets of the stamps now that you officially say that you're on an Australian stamp?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Yes, they actually did. That was pretty bizarre to see my name, my face on an Aussie post stamp. That was pretty cool. I was like, oh, this is pretty unreal. So no, it was a cool little moment for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's one of those things, back to the letter question, if you do receive a letter and it's kind of got your name misspelled, you're like, dude, my face is on the stamp right in front of you. You can't get it right.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: No, it's a tricky name, so I kind of let people off, to be honest.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, I mean, look, obviously the question has to be asked about Paris, but I mean, is that kind of just right now, you're just taking some R&R with things or kind of already switch focus towards the next Olympics, next World Champs, kind of everything that comes with now the schedule?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: No, to be honest, I'm not thinking about Paris right now. Of course, I'm going to be fighting for a spot there, absolutely. But right now, I'm just really enjoying the moment, enjoying my time with family and friends, and just appreciating the moment for what it was, I guess. And then when we start back up in October, absolutely, the focus will be shifted to Paris, and it's going to be a new event, and it's going to be a different event to work hard towards, so absolutely, just enjoying the time now, and then come October, we'll reset for Paris.
BEN WATERWORTH: And just in terms of what being an Olympic Gold Medallist means in terms of a sport like kayaking, do you hope that there could be kids watching that event going, cool, I want to get involved in that, or you can now go to a different club and just talk to them about your journey? Is that something that you would hope that it can bring to further the sport in Australia moving forward?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I think, of course, you know, because I was inspired by the guys older than me. I was inspired by, you know, like I was inspired by Kenny and the K4 boys when they won gold. I was watching all those races. So I think it would be great to know that myself and Tommy have maybe inspired a couple of the younger kids and placed a bit of drive into them to maybe try to achieve the same thing. Absolutely, you know, you want to inspire the next generation of kayakers and hopefully play a small part in their little career.
BEN WATERWORTH: We're going to close up with a series of sort of get to know you questions that we always do. One thing I've got to ask, so, Jean, if you're watching the Springboks and the Wallabies or you're watching Australia versus South Africa in a test match, I mean, kind of where do your allegiances generally lie?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: You know, it's a tough one because the box is such a... it's almost like a religion and back in South Africa to support them. But after having represented Australia at the Games, I mean, I have to go for the Wallabies, mate.
BEN WATERWORTH: I like that line you play. So the last World Cup, was that tricky? Kind of watching the Wallabies go out, then all of a sudden, the Springboks going on to win. We're like, oh shit, what do I do here?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: It's good because I can claim either or. So I got two queens. I just see it like that.
BEN WATERWORTH: There's always benefits to having two teams sometimes when it comes to that way. Now, we close out with a series of sort of get to know you style questions. These are based off a Team Canada questionnaire they gave their athletes ahead of both Rio and Pyeongchang. And we always grab an athlete from the same sport when available. And as we did with Elise and Jordan, we've got Cameron Smedley here, a Canadian paddler. I believe he might have been C1 he's involved in. So I'm not sure if you're aware of Cameron at all, or he's someone you've come across. No, I'm not too sure how that kind of works. But anyway, these are questions they posed to him. And I'm going to start off with straight away, if you could choose any Olympic host city, where would it be?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Jeepers, if I could choose any one. I think Athens would have been awesome, to be honest. Like that's just the birthplace of the Olympic Games. So I think that would be amazing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Pretty special one. I don't know how realistic they'll ever go for an Olympics again, but hey, you never know. Got a few venues sitting around with just a bit of liquor paint. Maybe they can bring it back up to standards. The weirdest instruction a coach ever gave you was?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Weirdest instruction? Jeepers, that's a tough one. Weirdest instruction? There's been some really, there's been a couple of silly ones. Nothing really that comes to mind, but sometimes you're going absolutely flat out, and they'll say, just keep going harder, mate. Like, dude, what do you think I'm doing? They try to tell you to get up for another effort and you smash, but you know, sometimes it works. Sometimes you do find a little more, so.
BEN WATERWORTH: Need a bit of extra pumping.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Your favourite workout is?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: My favourite workout. My favourite session. Jeepers. That's a tough one. I kind of enjoy that. It's a love-hate relationship, but I actually enjoy the 10, 10, 1000 metres threshold.
BEN WATERWORTH: So nice.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I kind of. Yeah, I don't know. It's a love-hate relationship. Sometimes if you're having a good session, it's great because you feel amazing. Everything is just working well. But if you're not feeling well, it's the worst session.
BEN WATERWORTH: They're the best ones though. Come on. The highs are better and the lows suck.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: But yeah, there's few highs and many more lows, but the highs are real high and the lows are real low.
BEN WATERWORTH: If you could have lunch with any one person, who would it be?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Joe Rogan.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nice. Yes. I like that one. Somebody who, you know, we might look up to slightly in this industry, but we'll get there one day. Don't worry. Your favourite sandwich is?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Hands down, the jam sandwich.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. Any particular type of jam? Like are you sort of...
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Strawberry jam on the whitest bread you can find. That's me.
BEN WATERWORTH: I love it when I ask one of these questions, and there's no hesitation. It's just I boom straight into it. You know what you want.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I know my sandwiches.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Now, is it also... I just got it on the strawberry jam, and there's potential sponsors here, Jean. Is it like a particular brand, or it doesn't matter as long as it's just, you know, got it homemade maybe?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: As long as it's strawberry, I'm down.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're down. All right. Okay then. I like this. Just again, any jam companies listening, you've got a potential, you know, like The Rowers have the whole, you know, awesome, foursome Golden Valley fruit. This could be a kayaker thing.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Who knows? Who knows?
BEN WATERWORTH: Look at that. I'm trying to get you some sponsors here. I'm sure you could always use some. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: That would be awesome.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's your extreme K1, flying like with the boat.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: She's already flying, she's going that quick.
BEN WATERWORTH: The best candy in the world is?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: I don't really like candy, but I love just gooey chocolate brownies. That's just my absolute weakness. The Woolies, Woolworths doesn't do these cookies that they bake there and they're just unbelievable. I used to be a Coles fan of the Coles cookies they do there, but Woolies just takes the cake.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you get asked to be on one of their Woolies hero stickers? Did you ever get a Coles?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: No, I wasn't cool enough for that, Ben. I wasn't cool enough for that.
BEN WATERWORTH: You are now.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Maybe now, maybe.
BEN WATERWORTH: I want to hope Paris might give you a Coles at least. At least ask the question. I just want free biscuits, man.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: That's all I want.
BEN WATERWORTH: Don't we all always want free biscuits? Now, you kind of maybe sort of answer this. I don't know. As a kid, who was your favourite sports team?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Growing up in Cape Town, it had to be the Stormers, our local Super Rugby team. It's such a cool memory. I'm going to go watch them at Newlands. I have to say the Stormers.
BEN WATERWORTH: You know what's funny is that I grew up in Tasmania. Rugby is not our biggest sport. I moved to New Zealand and lived in the South. I jumped on the Highlanders bandwagon just because I felt a bit of a trade-off. I should be going for an Australian team. But I don't know. You don't really kind of gel much with rugby teams living in Tasmania. So it's kind of like, eh, Highlanders.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: That's fair enough. But I would say you're definitely a trader. You've got to support the Aussie born.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm a Wallabies man. Don't worry. Trust me. I think the one time I lived there and we beat the All Blacks, I wore my jersey to death. I'm like, hey guys, look, we beat you.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Or for the next week.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. And then a week later, I promptly get shut down to earth when they thrash us, as they always do. So there you go. Um, your favourite sports movie is?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Um, I feel like I should say Invictus, but that's such a popular one. Favourite sports movie.
BEN WATERWORTH: Invictus actually, I don't think, has been answered on this show, funnily enough.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Invictus is pretty good. Um, oh, jeez, this one, this one is a hard one. You know what, I'm gonna go with Invictus. I'll go with Nelson and the boys.
BEN WATERWORTH: It works. You know, Matt Damon, were you pretty impressed with Matt's South African accent?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: It's a tough one to get, but he was all right.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Not bad. It's one of those ones like, you know, you watch any Australian and sort of thing, they put on an accent. Like, it's like, oh, okay. I don't know what they're doing with that. But I mean, South African accent is always fun to try, but I'm not gonna try it. I'll butcher it and then you'll...
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: One of my mates made me, forced me to watch Blood Diamond. This is Riley Fitzsimmons I'm talking about. And we went on a training camp in Yamba and he was just trying to find all the South African movies possible to try to see if which one had the best South African accent.
BEN WATERWORTH: The one I like is, over my shoulder, I've got a Bond post of A Dying Other Day. And there's a scene when Bond's in Cuba, and he sort of like, I guess, takes advantage of another person at this hotel thing he's staying at. And he's meant to be South African. And I have no idea if that actor is South African or there's just somebody putting on a very stereotypical South African accent. Check out, if you haven't watched A Dying Other Day in a while, I might struggle to get through, but check it out, and you let us know how the South African accent rates in a Bond movie. Final question for you today. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Honestly, I've done a lot of travel, and I've visited some really cool places. But in terms of where I want to live, and probably the Gold Coast, I really enjoy it. But if I was like a dreamer, I didn't have to work, I had no responsibility, I'd probably be somewhere in the Maldives or in the Swiss Alps, stock standard answer, I reckon. But in terms of real life, I love the Goldie.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great answer. Jean, before we let you go, social media, website, anything people can follow you on on the continued journey moving forward?
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: You can just follow me on Instagram, jean.vdwesthuyzen. I'm not the most active social media dude, but you'll see me around here and there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Awesome, awesome. Well, we really do appreciate your time here Off The Podium. Obviously, congratulations for Tokyo, and we'll close out the way we started. Olympic Gold Medallist. I'll just keep saying that over and over again, but Jean, we really do appreciate your time, and we look forward to seeing you bring home a few more gold medals at the future Olympics.
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN: Thanks, Ben. It's been great to be on your show.
BEN WATERWORTH: Massive thanks to Jean there, a lot of fun. And yeah, it's always fun sometimes to have two different teams. As a man who sometimes has two different teams in some sporting leagues around the world, it's okay to have that. Soccer fan, I go for Germany more so than I probably go for the Socceroos, but I still go for the Socceroos, so it's kind of, it's a weird balance there. But thanks very much to Jean for his time there. We've got plenty more to come on this show, and I just want to point this out and say right now that the time of recording this, and this may change around when it comes to scheduling and everything along those lines, Jean was actually our 99th guest here on Off The Podium, which means our next interview will be our 100th guest that we've had on the show. So celebration time, obviously we've been ploughing through these guests since Tokyo in the lead up to Beijing, but obviously a bit of a celebratory episode when it comes to our next guest on the show. Who will that be? You might just have to wait and find out. So stay tuned for how that will all play out as we celebrate that little occasion. In the meantime, if you wanna continue to celebrate with us, listen to these episodes and interviews, you can simply hit us up on social media Off The Podium, or of course on all our good podcasting platforms where you can subscribe to the show, go back and listen to older episodes, stay up to date with all the future episodes we have. While you're there, leave us some feedback. We'd love to hear what you think of the show and shoot us a message on social media, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Again, we'd love to hear what you think of the show, but if you've got any ideas for episodes or guests, we're always open to hearing those. Once again, thanks to Jean. Thanks to you for listening. My name is Ben. This is Off The Podium, and as always, go left.
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