'I'm blessed': Teen son of Aussie swimming great Nicole Livingstone signs six-year MLB deal
Nicole Livingstone shot to fame rocketing up and down the pool, but her 17-year-old son is making a name for himself by launching rockets as a freakishly talented baseball pitcher.
Robinson Smith, the son of three-time Olympic swimming medallist Livingstone, has inked a six-year deal with a Major League Baseball franchise, the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He was named after Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in the MLB, and cut his teeth in baseball as a kid at the Sandringham Royals Club in Melbourne.
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He can now pitch the ball at 152km/h, and that speed will only increase as the 195cm teen packs on more bulk.
"It was unreal," Smith said of landing his MLB contract in an interview on Nine's Today.
"Being an Australian and having the opportunity that I'm having, it's what any young baseball player would dream of. So I'm blessed to have that opportunity."
Robinson Smith letting the ball rip. Supplied
Smith spent seven months in the US last year honing his baseball skills and he is now headed for the Dominican Republic, where he will join a Pittsburgh Pirates development squad.
He is now one of 27 Australians currently contracted with a MLB franchise.
"He doesn't get his hand-eye coordination from me," Livingstone laughed.
"He gets it from his dad, who actually got him into baseball here at the Sandringham Royals club.
"... From a little kid he's always had a bat and ball in his hand, [and] to get to the point where he actually had a lot of clubs really interested in him [was great]."
Nicole Livingstone (left) pictured with fellow Australian swimming great Susie O'Neill in 1994. Getty
Livingstone swam at the Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics, and won an individual bronze, a relay bronze and a relay silver.
She's since carved out a career as a sports commentator, presenter and administrator, which included a stint as AFLW boss.
Livingstone initially hoped her son would follow in her swimming slipstream, but she is incredibly proud of the path he's taken.
Robinson Smith and his dad Marty. Supplied
"He's on his own now, so this is him with a grown-up job. At 17 he gets to go off and live his dream for the next six years, and hopefully that rolls into something more ... and he works his way up to the goal of being a Major League Baseball player," Livingstone said.
"It's pretty exciting."
