Rowing: Younger Bond follows in brother's footsteps

Alistair Bond, left, and Adam Ling begin their campaign at the second world cup in France in June. Photo / Christine Cornege

The name is Bond and he's a rower, but this one is Alastair, younger brother of the Olympic champion Hamish.

Two Bonds will set off on this year's elite European campaign after Alastair, 24, won a spot in the lightweight double scull alongside Waikato's Adam Ling.

So, for anyone assuming rowing is a "figure things out for yourself" kind of world, let's get this out of the way first. Hamish, unbeaten in the coxless pair for five years with Eric Murray and among the finest rowers of the modern age, is a willing sounding board to his relatively late-blooming brother.

"He's always quick to offer advice and I definitely try and incorporate that as much as I can. You'd be silly not to," Alastair Bond said this week.

Bond and Ling, 22, won their spots after the national trials this month. So to them goes first dibs on a boat with a strong international record over the past few years.

Peter Taylor and Storm Uru won world cups, and bronze at the London Olympics in 2012 during a fine career. Last year, with Uru having headed overseas and Taylor now the senior figure in a distinctly promising young lightweight four, the boat sat empty.

"There's not too many boats at Rowing New Zealand that haven't been successful at some time. You can't get caught up in that," Bond said. "We're our own combination, have our own goals with what we can do in the boat.

"It's a positive that Peter Taylor is still around and can help us out when we need. But it gives a sense of knowing what can be done and that we can achieve things in this field."

Bond took an unusual route to the elite squad. A boarder at Christchurch Boys' High School, he made the first eight but "I guess I was pretty slow in coming along. It wasn't really top priority while I was at school".

"When I started at university I started taking it a little more seriously and thought I might actually be able to be okay."

Twice Bond turned down the chance to attend national trials while he finished his land surveying degree at Otago University. Many prominent athletes try to divide their time between academic and sporting paths. Bond wanted to get the academic sorted out first, rather than try to split his time and risk falling between two stools.

Now, with the degree in his back pocket, it's full steam ahead.

Ling, hoping to graduate from Waikato University with a bachelor of business and accounting this year, was a national under 23 representative but the pair didn't really get together in a boat until January.

"It's been really good, we haven't had too many issues," Bond said. "We're both fairly relaxed and match up quite well physiologically so it's been quite easy, and Adam's a positive guy."

The pair begin their campaign, with the Rio Olympics at the back of the mind, in France in June.