Olympian Hamish Bond shows the result of perseverance, rowing gold, in Napier. PHOTO/Glenn Taylor
As he clasps his medal and sinks into a plush chaise longue in Hawke's Bay, Hamish Bond offers a glimpse of what a life of perseverance is all about.
Callous palms, cutting a stark contrast with the glitter of gold at the stately Hawke's Bay Club in Napier, is a tell-tale sign of what the grinning Olympic gold medallist calls "the curse of rowing".
Taking a two-week break, Bond hastens to add, often means building blisters all over again in becoming accustomed to the rigours of anyone aspiring to represent New Zealand at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"There's going to be roadblocks and glass ceilings thrown on top of most people, not only in sports but life in general.
"It's whether you find a way around it or through it to persevere to the next level that makes a difference," says the 28-year-old Dunedin-born athlete, not long after delivering a motivational speech to Bay clients as a Forsyth Barr registered financial adviser this week.
Based in Cambridge since 2006, he believes the quaint town offers "the most centralised rowing system in the world".
"That probably has been the single-biggest catalyst for Rowing New Zealand in the last 10 to 12 years."
Daily training against world-class rowers sets the tone, especially for the newcomers.
"It's regularly apparent to you as a new athlete what that standard is and how good you have to be because you can't plead ignorance ... if you open your eyes it's right in front of your face."
Bond has no family history in the code although his father, Graeme Bond, may beg to differ. He was a sea cadet who used to row whaling boats but "I think he's grasping at straws, to be honest".
A former Otago Boys' High School pupil, the younger Bond found himself in summer sporting wilderness so his introduction to the code "wasn't particularly glamorous".
A boarder, he played cricket but fielding all day wasn't his idea of fun. He rolled his arm a couple of overs with little impact and gifted his wicket cheaply.
"Most of the rowers were boarders so they [the seniors] came around and rounded up all the third formers - tennis or cricket - so you were herded into a van to become a rower."
Like rugby, it paid to "go for puberty earlier" for an advantage. That didn't happen for Bond.
"At the early years in high school the guys who can grow a beard are the ones who are winning."
He considered himself "okay" - not a standout with a smaller physique and devoid of grunt.
"Working hard at that point when you weren't blessed physically paid dividends when I got to the end of my high school, I guess, when you put on some size." Having won a couple of Maadi Cup medals, he made NZ under-19 squad in his last year at school for his first representative experience in Greece.
"I had a degree of success in terms of Otago Boys' history. I had a history of long success but not hugely as some powerhouse schools such as Hamilton Boys', St Margaret's, Rangiruru and Auckland Grammar.
"I wasn't carded for greatness, that's for sure, but in terms of Otago region I was the most successful junior at the time."
Fred Strachan, 91 now, of Otago, in the late 70s and 80s was the manager and head selector of the great New Zealand crews.
"He had a good understanding of what was required to be at the top level of the sport even though his experience had been a number of years previously but the principle remained the same."
Strachan set high standards and "I was dumb enough to take them on".
While he wasn't the next best thing, Bond valued the time his mentor invested in him and anyone else.
"You know, as much interest as the athlete was prepared to show he would match that with enthusiasm."
It wasn't implicitly what Strachan ever said but more in the manner that he operated that left an indelible impression on Bond.
He recalled as a third former, Carl Meyer, a senior, who made the national age-group team.
"Fred would say Carl could do this and Carl could do that and then I would go, 'Stuff that, I'll beat him. I'll do better'."
The defining moment for Bond came two years after leaving school. Sticking with Strachan differentiated him from his peers.
"I probably dedicated myself to a sport more than other people who arguably had more talent or were touted for greater things than I was."
He didn't let the post-school distractions, such as universities, night life and girlfriends, get to him.
"I put a lot of time and effort into my training and overtook a lot of people during that period."
In hindsight, he doesn't feel he's done anything anyone else can't replicate.
Bond struggles to put his finger on any motivational factors except to acknowledge success breeds success.
"I guess I'd just set targets along the way - not implicitly like writing them down but in your mind."
Meeting or exceeding expectations are motivational tools in themselves.
"They tended to compound on themselves to the point of ending up at the Olympics or being able to compete for a medal.
"If you told me at school that I'd be in the position I'm in now - no way, it wasn't in my horizon."
He feels every athlete has similar opportunities but not everyone identifies them or capitalises if they do.
"There are forks on the road but luckily I haven't come across one that's led off a cliff."
His parents were supportive in a relatively expensive sport.
"When you are young at the time you don't fully appreciate. It was never expected but it was never an issue."
His father organises school bus routes for the Ministry of Education and mum Shirley is his secretary.