“Somehow, he made it to the meet at the same time as the bus,” Jurjevich laughs.

Hicks says he sees a parallel between cross country and rowing.

“With both cross country and rowing, you can see yourself tangibly improving, and it’s wonderful,” Hicks says. “You can see yourself getting faster over time, and that gives you a sense of self-worth, to see your individual improvements rewarded.”

According to teammate and fellow senior James O’Connor, Hicks strikes a good balance between fun and focus.

“Outside the boathouse, he’s a real character,” O’Connor says. “He’s got his motorbike and he loves to ride it, but when he’s at the boathouse, he always brings his ‘A’ game.”

Hicks says that O’Connor and Phillips—who are from New Zealand and London, respectively—are part of a wave of foreign oarsmen who have come to Harvard and other American universities to row.

“Part of the reason I came to Harvard is that there’s the concept of the student-athlete that doesn’t really exist in Australia,” Hicks says. “The programs there aren’t affiliated with the university. Plus, it’s not like we’re getting a degree and mucking around on the river every so often—training at Harvard is twice a day. It’s the best combination of athletics and academics.”

To this end, Rowing Australia has recognized that many Australians come to the United States to row at the collegiate level and has set up a system to retain American-based rowers within the Australian system.

“For two summers now, [Rowing Australia has] set up a U.S.-based boat that Australians at American universities can try out for,” says Crimson associate head coach Bill Manning. “The first year, it was a slow boat, but this past summer, they were able to recruit the best Australians for the boat, including Josh.”

Hicks is thankful that the Australian federation makes it so easy for U.S.-based athletes like him to compete.

“We’re so grateful, because they really didn’t have to. We’re just a bunch of Aussies who [go] off to America and, to a certain extent, leave them high and dry,” Hicks says. “I’m almost apologetic because I can understand if Australian athletes at home are upset. At the same time though, we’ve had really good results in that boat and all of the guys in the boat had represented Australia before and have had plenty of experience.”

Last June, Hicks went to Princeton to try out for the U-23 team in hopes of making it to the U-23 World Championships in Lithuania.

“We went down to Princeton and tried out in pairs, did some racing, and they added up whoever had the lowest times after several races,” Hicks says. “The four with the lowest time made the boat.”

Hicks made the team and immediately commenced training.

“I spent three weeks training intensively there with coach Tom Laurich, and it was a lot of fun,” Hicks says.