Rowing: Hamish Bond faces last chance saloon

Hamish Bond looks on at the start line ahead of the Men's Eight Repechage race during Day Five of the 2019 World Rowing Championships. Photo / Getty Images

Hamish Bond had never competed in a repechage race at the rowing world championships until last week.

Indeed, before this year, across his senior international career, which takes in three Olympic Games and stretches back to the 2006 world championships, the 33-year-old hadn't taken part in the second-chance race, designed for those crews that don't advance directly from their heat.

It's partly due to the relative number of entries across different boat classes but mainly because of Bond's incredible dominance alongside Eric Murray, the famed pair that won 69 consecutive races from 2009 to 2016.

But last Thursday night, Bond and the men's eight crew faced a "death or glory" scenario in the repechage, after they had earlier placed fourth (of five) in their heat.

They rose to the occasion, finishing second to advance to the final tonight.

"In the pair, if we went out and executed well and rowed well ... we just won," Bond said from Linz, Austria. "You didn't take it for granted but history got to a point where you knew if you went well, you were going to be difficult to beat.

"You don't have that comfort in the eight; racing is closer, everyone averages each other out in the boat. One person has a good day, another person not quite such a good day and it's much closer across all the crews."

Bond and fellow two-time Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale were high profile additions to the men's squad this year, which provoked renewed interest in the event. New Zealand finished sixth at the Rio Olympics in their first tilt in the men's eight since 1984, after Rowing New Zealand revived the big boat programme in 2015.

The addition of the two veterans grabbed the headlines but was always going to have an incremental rather than transformational effect, given the complexities of knitting together a fast boat.

However, Bond has been satisfied with progress.

"We've had some encouraging results and been on the pace with the best crews in the world a number of times this year.

"I'm encouraged by how the boat feels. Everyone is pretty dialled-in now and it is as much building comfort and familiarity around what they want the boat to feel like. Things starts happening quickly when you have 800-900 kilos of body weight flying back and forth in the shell, which can really interrupt your boat speed if you are not in sync."

The New Zealand eight must make the top five tonight to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo / Getty Images

Bond admits the transition has been more complex than he had expected, given his long spell in smaller boats.

"I've had to adapt more than I thought I would," said Bond. "I thought I would try to implement similar things and core philosophies that Eric and I had in the pair. We have to a degree but also had to adjust to the nuances of the eight."

An example was his seating position, as he has switched from the stroke seat (in the stern) to the two seat, near the bow.

"I didn't appreciate the difference in the feel in the boat, depending on where you sit," said Bond. "Not since I was under-19 had I not been in the stroke [seat] and there was probably a preconceived notion from multiple areas, including myself, that I would be there.

"It was quite illuminating to try out different seats. I felt I had more to offer being in two seat, looking back on everyone else. The boat feels most lively there and more like the pair, something I am obviously comfortable with. They call it the 'control tower', probably the one place where everyone in the boat can hear what you say. I don't say much going down the course or in training but try to offer what I can."

Famously driven to achieve, Bond has also stepped back a little. He remains an intense trainer and highly focused but accepts there are so many more variables to contend with in the larger vessel.

"I have put less pressure on myself and I am realistic," said Bond. "We can do well but I'm not getting too caught up in it.

"This is something that I wanted to do and try to achieve, but it was in some ways a bonus opportunity. If it comes off, that's great. I guess if it doesn't, there is not so much riding on it as there used to be."

Bond's chance for a shot at more Olympic glory will be decided in just under five minutes tonight. The equation is simple, as the first five boats (Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, the United States and Germany make up the rest of the field) qualify for Tokyo.

If they finish sixth, the only route to the 2020 Games in Tokyo is via the dreaded last chance regatta in Lucerne next May, and there is no guarantee Rowing New Zealand will send crews to that event. So it's now or never.

"The eight is ultimately where the sport would love to achieve again," said Bond. "Hopefully we can be in that top five, [although] obviously we are aiming to go better than that."