Kayaking around the world

International experiences, work ethic make paddler stronger

Marques Hunter

of the Gateway

Cedric Bond isn’t a world citizen. He’s an American kayaking ambassador. By next week, the 16-year-old Tacoma boy who paddles for the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team will have traveled to two international countries two years in a row. After going to the Czech Republic last year for the Junior World Championships with four other GHCK teammates, Bond is traveling to Russia with six other American kayakers.

Although none of the others belong to the GHCK club, Bond’s patriotic mentality suggests that any American who goes with him is a close friend.

“I take it very seriously where it says USA next to my name,” he said. “I’m patriotic.”

Bond performed well enough at the junior national competition in Oklahoma City earlier this month to be selected as a participant for the test regatta in Moscow.

Still, he must make the time standard next month to qualify for the American juniors team that would compete for the junior world regatta set to take place next year about the same time.

“He’ll need to qualify just like everyone else,” GHCK assistant coach Graham Ulmer said.

Bond is one of a family of eight living under the same roof. In his room — strung above him on the ceiling — are flags of all the countries he’s paddled in.

Bond said the unfinished ceiling would look much more decorative if it was masked with colored flags from around the world.

“There’s going to be some overlap,” said Bond, who would like to have about 10 different flags.

A high school junior, Bond’s education, career and athletic ambitions are separate but keep him moving in a positive direction. His grades are just shy of a perfect 4.0, and he trains in the water about nine times a week.

While school is in session, he trains in the morning, goes to class, attends physical therapy, does another training round, eats dinner with his family, studies and goes to sleep. Not to mention his devotion to his Christian religion.

Bond is a budding All-American. He plans to train for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, as well as the 2016 games. By then, he’ll be in his prime in his mid-20s.

As important as representing his country as an athlete, Bond said what’s more important is serving his country in uniform. Bond said he wants to attend the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., which is 50 miles north of New York City on the Hudson River.

“I know my country has problems, but I still respect my country and I’ll go wherever they call me,” he said.

The military is a stark contrast to his passion for kayaking. But what ties it all together — what drives him to slice through the water and join the military — is his faith.

“It’s the most important thing in my life,” he said. “I’d drop kayaking for my faith.”

Bond said his mother and father have been his backbone during a crammed schedule. Douglas, his father, is a teacher at Bond’s Covenant High School, which has a student body of less than 150.

Bond plans to take a month off after competing in order to be a “normal teenager.”

A passion for paddling

It was five years ago that Bond discovered he had a special talent in the water. His family was on a sailboat trip and they stopped into Gig Harbor for a brief moment. By sheer coincidence, GHCK head coach Alan Anderson was on the public dock and asked Bond if he wanted to try it out.

“I loved it the first day I paddled,” Bond said with a smile. “I lasted less than a second. More like I hopped in and ... see ya!”

Racing kayaks are similar to cross-country skis or snowboards, he said, because beginners tend to fall. He spent his first two years thinking about just staying balanced in the boat.

It’s now been three years since he’s taken a plunge.

“Each year has been a stair step,” Bond said about adding more difficulty to his kayaking regimens.

Finding a strong interest for a sport at age 11 is common. While Bond said he swam as a boy for just two seasons, kayaking was the only sport in which he’d competed.

“I love all sports because I know what it takes to be an athlete,” he said.

Diet, nutrition and injury

One important aspect that plays into Bond’s love for kayaking is taking care of his body. About half of the foods he eats are organic. Bond ingests eggs, fruit, bagels and bananas, and doesn’t get his protein from dairy because he’s lactose intolerant.

The night before a big regatta, he’ll east pasta and occasionally eat a steak because of its high protein value.

After a strenuous workout, Bond takes a recovery drink that contains the right mixture of carbohydrates and protein.

When he’s not eating or paddling in the water, Bond spends a lot of his time running and lifting weights. It’s all a part of keeping his body in good shape year-round.

“The national team has a program to stay fit,” he said. “There are certain lifts for endurance and maximum weights because I want to get stronger, but I don’t want to lose my flexibility.”

Bond wants to gain weight. He currently weights 150 pounds but understands that heavier boys with more power can push faster through stronger head winds.

Such was the case during this year’s junior nationals. Bond said if he’d weighed more, he might have finished better.

Olympic athletes typically weight between 175 and 215 pounds, Bond said.

Despite the rigorous workout schedule, kayakers can still get hurt. Last July, Bond injured his long thoracic nerve in his shoulder, causing significant knotting and pain. He paddled through it for a month and a half without knowing the full extent of the injury.

Bond was forced to stay out of the water for two months — a big psychological blow.

“It was a bummer,” Bond said. “It was a battle with my head.”

Bond still undergoes physical therapy three times a week. He said specialists at Source Therapy in Gig Harbor have done an excellent job in rehabilitating his shoulder.

Paddling career highlights

Bond tied for first in his first race in Canada when he was an 11-year-old Pee Wee. As a bantam in 2004, he was ranked seventh in the nation, but he quickly moved up to No. 1 in the division in 2005 and ’06.

As a juvenile in 2007, Bond was ranked No. 1, then No. 2 in the junior division.

He helped the GHCK team win the juvenile championship last year during the national competition at Green Lake in Seattle.

Bond is currently ranked No. 3. He will race in three events during the 2008 Junior World Test Regatta in Russia.

He will combine with Luke Potts of Georga for the K-2 1,000 meters, and he will compete with Potts and both Ryan Stock and Nick Hanoian of San Diego in the K-4 500 and 1,000 events.

Bond’s top three regattas

Last year, Cedric Bond of the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Club placed 16th at the Junior World Canoe and Kayaking competition at the Czech Republic in the K-4 500, and he finished in the B final in the K-4 1,000.

Bond also won gold in the K-4 200 in the senior division, and bronze medals in the K-1 500, K-1 1,000 and K-1 5,000 at the 2008 U.S. Canoe and Kayaking Nationals.

Bond also performed well at the 2008 Lake Placid International Regatta.

Reach sports reporter Marques Hunter at 253-853-9246 or by e-mail at marques.hunter@gateline.com.