Alexander Mahé Owens Drysdale (born 19 November 1978) is a New Zealand politician and retired rower. Drysdale is a two-time Olympic champion and a five-time world champion in the

single scull A single scull (or a scull), abbreviated as a 1x, is a racing shell designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-se ...

s. He is a seven-time New Zealand national champion and five-time recipient of New Zealand Sportsman of the Year. He is the current mayor of Tauranga.

Early life and background

Born in Australia to New Zealand parents, Mahé was named after the largest island in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

. He attended Tauranga Boys' College in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

, New Zealand, then the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

where he took up rowing at the age of 18. He initially gave up rowing to concentrate on his studies, but resumed after watching fellow New Zealander Rob Waddell win gold at the 2000 Olympic Games. Drysdale rowed from West End Rowing Club in Avondale,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, and is also a member of the Tideway Scullers School, London.

Rowing

World Championships

Drysdale first represented New Zealand at the

Rowing World Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

III in 2002, in the New Zealand coxless four. After the 2004 Olympic Games, where his New Zealand crew finished fifth in the final, Drysdale switched to the single scull. He won his first World Championship title at the

2005 World Rowing Championships The 2005 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 29 August to 4 September 2005 at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The international rowing season usually ends ...

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

, Japan, despite having broken two vertebrae in a crash with a water skier earlier in the year. He successfully defended his title in 2006 at

Dorney Lake Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake and Meetings & Events Venue in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around ...

, Dorney, England, in 2007 at

Oberschleißheim Oberschleißheim (, , in contrast to " Lower Schleißheim") is a municipality in the district of Munich, and a suburb to Munich in Bavaria, in southern Germany. It is located 13 km north of Munich (centre). As of 2005 it had a population o ...

, Germany, and again in 2009 in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, Poland, holding off

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

's Alan Campbell and the Czech Republic's Ondřej Synek. At the 2009 World Rowing Championships, he beat his own world best time in the single, lowering it to 6:33.35. As of 2021 that time stands as the best time at a World Rowing Championship but it was beaten in 2017 by his countryman Robbie Manson for the new men's single scull world record.

Olympic Games

At his first Olympic Games, in 2004, Drysdale was part of the New Zealand coxless four team that finished fifth. Drysdale was officially selected as New Zealand's Olympic heavyweight sculler for the Beijing Olympics on 7 March 2008. He was also chosen to carry the flag for New Zealand during the parade of nations in the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

. Unfortunately for Drysdale, a severe gastrointestinal infection in the week before his final saw him off form and he was only able to win the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the men's

. The

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

medals went to Olaf Tufte from Norway and Ondřej Synek from the Czech Republic, respectively. Clearly suffering from his illness, after his race Drysdale was carried by life raft and then moved to a waiting

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

. He was also seen vomiting. He was, however, able to stand to be awarded his medal. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Drysdale won the gold medal in the men's

s, despite throwing up the morning of race day due to nervousness. He has since been dethroned, and had to settle with silver in the world championships leading up to the 2016 Olympics, each time bested by the Czech Ondřej Synek, who won the WC in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Drysdale successfully defended his Olympic men's single sculls title, taking the gold medal over Croatia's Damir Martin. The race was decided by a photo finish, with Drysdale edging out Martin by half a bow ball. In November 2016, Drysdale announced that he would take a break from rowing in 2017. He returned to the New Zealand squad at the end of 2017 with a view of competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. After losing out to Jordan Parry in selection for the single scull at the rearranged 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Drysdale announced his retirement from international rowing in June 2021.

New Zealand national championships

Drysdale won the gold medal six times in single sculls at the New Zealand national championships through 2010. In 2011, he won the silver medal in single sculls at the New Zealand National Rowing Championships at

Lake Ruataniwha Lake Ruataniwha is an artificial lake in the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. It was formed in 1977–1981 as part of the Waitaki hydroelectric project. It lies on the traditional boundary of the Canterbury and Otago provinces ...

in Twizel, losing to Nathan Cohen by two lengths. He reclaimed the national title in 2012, where Cohen took second. He did not compete in 2013.

Other

In 2018, he won a sixth

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowin ...

title (the premier event for single sculls) at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

Canoe polo

Drysdale has also represented New Zealand in canoe polo as a junior. He represented NZ in an under-18 team that toured to Fiji. Later he was a NZ under-21 representative that toured to Tonga. In 1999–2000 he was executive of NZ Canoe Polo.

Awards

Drysdale has won the Sportsman of the Year award at the

Halberg Awards The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Sir Murray Halberg. The initial award was han ...

on five occasions (2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2016). He is the only New Zealander to have won the award more than three times. In 2006 he also won the Halberg Supreme Prize. He won the

Young Alumnus of the Year Award in 2007, and was awarded Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rowing in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Politics

On 19 May 2024, Drysdale announced his candidacy for the Tauranga mayoralty. On 20 July 2024, Drysdale was elected as mayor, and was sworn in on 2 August. Jen Scoular became deputy mayor. On 14 October 2024, the majority of the

Tauranga City Council Tauranga City Council is the Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority for the List of cities in New Zealand, city of Tauranga, New Zealand. The council consists of nine councillors, each elected from one of nine wards, and ...

voted 6 to 3 to adopt a resolution to fluoridate the city's water supply, which came into effect on 24 October. The vote was in response to a directive by the Director-General of Health, Dr Diana Sarfati, to fluoridate Tauranga's water supply. Drysdale voted against the resolution, citing "concerns about fluoride's impact on people's health" and a desire for assurance from Sarfati that recent evidence continued to support fluoridation as a safe and risk-free public health measure.

Personal life

Drysdale married fellow rower and Olympic bronze medallist

Juliette Haigh Juliette Anne Haigh (born 4 August 1982), also known by her married name Juliette Drysdale but better known by her maiden name, is a retired professional Rowing (sport), rower. Haigh was born in 1982 in Auckland, New Zealand. Her parents are Pe ...

in September 2013. They have one daughter, born in October 2014. Drysdale is cousin to Rose Keddell, a member of the New Zealand women's hockey team. His younger brother,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, is a cricketer. His grandfather, Bob Owens, served as mayor of Tauranga from 1968 to 1977.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Drysdale, Mahe 1978 births New Zealand male rowers Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Mayors of Tauranga Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in rowing Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand People educated at Tauranga Boys' College University of Auckland alumni Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Rowers from Melbourne Sportspeople from Tauranga Living people World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand