Number one: Tony Bond competing at the World Championships in Vejen, Denmark, where he claimed gold in the 70-74 C1 class. Photo: Supplied.
Echuca Moama Canoe Club member Tony Bond can proudly call himself a world champion, having taken out the men’s 70-74 C1 class at the Masters canoe world championships in Denmark in August.
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Bond finally achieved his dream at the third time of asking, having competed at the world championships twice throughout the 1980’s, where he finished fourth on both occasions.
But the win was far from smooth paddling for the Echuca local.
If you were to ask some what the most important thing you need to compete at the canoe world champs is, a canoe itself would surely rank pretty highly.
Yet just an hour out from the pinnacle of competitive canoeing, Bond found himself without a vessel.
“Well, the problem was in Denmark is that I was getting a lend of a canoe from England, but the problem was with Brexit, I couldn’t get the canoe,” he said.
“The canoe was ready to go, but they didn’t have the right paperwork. It’s all mucked up because of Brexit, the Europeans won’t let the English bring stuff into Europe any more.
“It’s a big hassle, and I couldn’t get hold of the canoe that I was going to actually paddle in.”
Winners are grinners: Tony Bond (left) alongside partner John Edwards (Florida) after claiming gold in the over-70 C2 canoe USCA national championships in Pennsylvania. Photo: Supplied.
With the race situated in Vejen, nearly three hours from the Danish capital Copenhagen, Bond was in danger of missing the competition, until he was saved from disaster at the 11th hour.
“An hour before the race, one of the blokes from Copenhagen drove all the way to where the race site was and lent me a canoe at the last minute,” he said.
“It wasn’t even the same sort that I was going to paddle. I could hardly sit in it, (it nearly) tipped me out the other side.
“The performance wasn’t really good, but in the age group you’ve just got to make the distance, about 13 kilometres.”
Despite the chaos, Bond steeled himself to secure gold in the class, covering the 13km in one hour, 37 minutes and eight seconds.
Bond’s European journey wasn’t complete, however, with a trip to Berlin yielding yet another race win, this time in an outrigger canoe over a half marathon distance.
The successful voyage came off the back of a stint in the United States for Bond, who completed a training block in Florida before heading to the USCA Canoe national championships in Pennsylvania.
“I went to Florida first to train, and then I went to the nationals with my partner up in Pennsylvania, we had to drive all the way up there, about 24 hours,” he said.
“I got third place in the over-70 C1, the American class C1, they are a different boat to the worlds, and then I got first place with my partner in the doubles.”
While representing Australia at the world championships, Bond was responsible for footing the bill, with Moama Bowling Club coming on board to sponsor the global effort.
