Mahé Drysdale, New Zealand’s king of the rowing lake
A five-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist, single sculls specialist Mahé Drysdale is one of New Zealand’s greatest ever rowers.
Waddell inspiration
Mahé Drysdale (NZL), named after the largest island of the Seychelles, took up rowing during the 1990s, excelling at canoe polo to such a degree that he represented New Zealand at various youth levels. He then took a break from competing to pursue his studies, but was lured back to the water after witnessing the Olympic victory of his compatriot, Rob Waddell, in the single sculls at Sydney 2000.
“He's the reason I got back into rowing,” he says of Waddell. “Watching him win convinced me that maybe I should have another go at it.” As part of a coxless four, Drysdale made his FISA World Cup debut in 2002 and then finished fifth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Global domination
Following in the footsteps of his role model, the Melbourne-born rower decided to focus on the single skulls, putting his ideal physique, faultless technique and formidable endurance to good use. These aptitudes proved crucial to his securing a first-ever FISA World Championship gold medal in Gifu (JPN) in 2005, and then winning two further world titles in Eton (GBR) in 2006 and in Munich (GER) in 2007.
“The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of rowing,” he said at the time. “Unless you're going to go for the Games I don't see much point in rowing just for the World Championships. That's now
where I'm focusing.”
Flag bearer in Beijing
On 8 August 2008, the New Zealander carried his country’s flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. The favourite to win single skulls gold, he was struck by a gastrointestinal infection in the run-up to the final that considerably weakened him and caused significant weight loss.
At the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on 16 August, an exhausted Drysdale led the race until the final 100 metres, where he was overtaken by Olaf Tufte (NOR) and Ondrej Synek (CZE), who landed gold and silver. After crossing the finish line, he fainted and was carried to a medical tent, but he recovered sufficiently to take his place on the podium.
Realisation of a dream
Subsequently, he continued to record impressive results, winning a fourth world title in Poznan (POL) in 2009 over 2,000m in a record time of 6.33:35, and then claiming a fifth in Bled (SLO) two years later. In addition, he enjoyed several victories in the prestigious Diamond Challenge Skulls event on the River Thames (GBR).
Six weeks prior to the start of the London Games in 2012, he was involved in a cycling accident in which he injured his knee. Despite this setback, on 3 August at Eton Dorney, he engaged in an epic battle with old rival Synek, stretching away from the Czech competitor towards the end to win by 1.55 seconds. “It’s a great relief and source of satisfaction to finally achieve my dream of winning an Olympic gold medal,” he said.
Title defence in Rio?
Married to three-time coxless pairs world champion Juliette Haigh, who picked up a bronze medal at London 2012, Drysdale returned to training after a one-year break in order to focus on
competing at Rio de Janeiro 2016, when he will be 38. “If I lose all my races but win in Rio, I've done the job, so that's all that really matters,” he says.
