Bond’s twin turbos Claudia and Alyssa Bailey have made a strong start in their step-up to the U23 division with a sixth placing at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
While Bond’s other super siblings, Jean and Pierre van der Westhuyzen, are preparing to represent Australia in sprint canoe events at the Paris Olympics, the Bailey sisters are part of the next wave of paddlers eying off the 2028 Los Angeles games.
The twins are no strangers to the world stage both competing at the 2022 and 2023 Canoe Sprint World Championships.
Claudia, an ADCO Sports Excellence Scholarship holder, won gold in the junior K1 500m at the 2023 ICF.
However, this is the first time they have competed in the more competitive U23 age group.
They were part of the team that made the final and finished 6th in the K4 500m but struggled to emulate that success in the individual events.
“There were definitely many highs and lows this regatta,” Claudia said.
“It was my first year in under 23s. I was stoked to get 6th in K4 500m.
“However, I was disappointed in my K1 1000m. Sickness got the better of me and made the race a lot more grueling.”
The races were held in steamy conditions the sisters weren’t accustomed too, despite hailing from the Gold Coast.
“It was very hot. We were racing in 40 degrees or more each day,” Alyssa said.
“However, due to this the water was fast.
“I am overall happy with our results. We had a really young team in the U23 age group this year, so to go out there and be competitive against the older girls was cool.”
The dynamic duo tied for first in the U23 K2 500m B final, and they joined fellow Aussies Caitlin Webber and Jasmine Locke in the K4 500m to claim 6th behind the likes of kayaking powerhouses Germany and Hungary.
“It was our first-time racing in the K4 boat together. We had trained for five weeks prior to the race at a training camp,” said Claudia.
It was Northcliffe coach and Olympic kayaker Naomi Flood who inspired the local Gold Coast girls to begin kayaking in 2021 during the COVID pandemic.
Now, with the kayaking off-season approaching, they are set to cross paths with Flood again as they return to their other passion, surf lifesaving.
“We will have some time to rest and recover for next season and it would be nice to get back into a little bit of surf,” said Claudia.
“I still want to keep my hand in surf lifesaving. I try and find a balance in my sessions between kayaking and also swimming and board paddling.”