9 August 2018

By Göran R Buckhorn

Mahé Drysdale moves into New Zealand’s quad for the World Championships in September.

As HTBS reported on 19 July, Robbie Manson of New Zealand won the single sculls at the World Cup in Lucerne, thereby taking his country’s spot in the boat class at the World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in September. This left Manson’s countryman, 39-year-old Mahé Drysdale, the two-time Olympic champion in the single sculls, to try to find another boat for the Worlds.

Earlier today, it was announces that Drysdale will, as a matter of fact, row in the country’s quad in Plovdiv.

‘It’s been a bit of an adjustment for me from setting my own rhythm, being my own man and you’ve got to fit in with a crew,’ Drysdale told New Zealand media. ‘I’ve been very much the one who has to make some changes.’

The seat racing on Lake Karapiro came as a shock to his system, Drysdale said. He has not done any seat racing for 14 years.

‘It’s been pretty tough the last few days with some pretty hard racing,’ Drysdale said. ‘You know your spot’s on the line so mentally and physically it’s pretty tough on the body and doing repeats and repeats and repeats.’

‘He’s amazing under pressure. He brings somethings special every time so we’re going to pick his brains and bleed from him as much as he can when it comes to that,’ Coach Mike Rodger said.

Drysdale’s crewmate Nathan Flannery remarked: What we’ve seen and felt in the boat is he’s obviously a big, strong guy and you can feel that horsepower in there.’

The 2018 World Championships will be held on 9 – 16 September in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.