We reckon one of the best things about rowing is that no matter where you go in the world you have an amazing community of like-minded people to show you around and help you out whenever you’re in need. Yesterday at our workshop we were proud to be able to help out our friend and double Olympic Champion, Hamish Bond, when he came in need of some carbon repairs. If you haven’t seen some of the headlines in New Zealand, Hamish has shifted focus since the Olympics – trying his legs at cycling. He’s been in Hawke’s Bay making his last preparations for the New Zealand National Road Cycling Champs – which happens to have a time trial running straight past our workshop. Unfortunately, with just a few days to go before the race, Hamish hit the deck while practising on that time trial course, not only fracturing a few bones in his body but also doing a bit of damage to his bike. Luckily, rowers are made of tough stuff, and Hamish hopped back on his bike, finished out the ride and brought it our way for a little bit of patch-up work.
We certainly don’t get many bike repairs come through our workshop, but as far as we’re concerned, once a rower, always a rower – so there was never any doubt we’d get to work on that cycle. Helping out rowers wherever we go and wherever we can is a big focus of SL Racing – it’s why we always have a repair tent at regattas…fixing any type of boat that comes our way. While we won’t be setting up a bike shop any time soon, it was awesome having Hamish through the shed, and our money is on him doing extremely well in that time trial tomorrow. You can’t keep a good rower down!
As an extra bonus, Steve from Rowing Celebration just happened to be floating around our sheds when Hamish brought the media along with him. He took a few photos that we’ve shared on our Facebook page – and has an amazing knack for being in the right place at the right time when it comes to getting incredible photos of the rowing world!
