Marc Hinton

WHEN MAHE Drysdale took the best part of a year off rowing to tick some things off his bucket list, it was the biggest risk he’d taken in a remarkable career. Now, it’s looking like a roll of the dice that might yield a golden pay-off.

At 36, Drysdale is, to put it politely, the elder statesman of New Zealand’s bulging national rowing squad. A less kind term might be the silverback of a troop with ambitions of qualifying a boat in every event at the Rio Olympics.

Along with that perfect pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, Drysdale is the kaumatua of Karapiro. A long, lean single sculling machine, his fellow elite rowers look to him for guidance, follow his example on and off the water and take inspiration from deeds that will see him eventually retire as one of the very best his sport has known.

What is clear now, just weeks out from yet another international campaign that will culminate in the world championships in France, is that Drysdale’s postLondon sabbatical in 2013 was just what the doctor ordered.

It wasn’t like he went into hibernation with that Olympic gold medal he won so splendidly on Eton Dorney. Among the activities Drysdale busied himself with were competing in the legendary Coast to Coast multisport race, the Australian Ironman and climbing Africa’s

Hand on heart it probably is the last Olympic cycle. But it has certainly crept into my mind I could do another one.

tallest mountain. He also teed it up at the New Zealand PGA, just to show he can deal with pain of the less intrinsic variety.

Taking such a significant chunk of time out of a sport like rowing was not without risk. Just ask Joseph Sullivan how his postLondon break worked out. The double scull Olympic champion went from smoke on the water to putting out fires for a living.

Maybe Drysdale received a little more leeway. Maybe his levels never slipped as much. Whatever, he was faithfully restored to the single in 2014, and looks well on his way back to peak form. In a candid interview on the banks of his Lake Karapiro ‘‘office’’, the sculler acknowledged the gamble but felt in hindsight the payoff had been worth it.

‘‘It was a great decision,’’ he says. ‘‘It was always a bit of a risk in that I didn’t know how much I’d lose. You always risk never getting back to that level. But I feel like I’ve got past that now. Go to stuff.co.nz for Mike Scott’s Mahe Drysdale video.

‘‘I was really happy with my performances last year (two World Cup golds and a silver at the world champs), though ultimately I was disappointed not to win the gold [at the worlds]. That was a nice place to be. I didn’t think I was going to be that good that quickly.

‘‘Now it’s only a year to go [until the Olympics], I’m still quite fired up and fresh, and it’s really good having the younger guys around as well. They keep you honest – keep pushing the standards.’’

Drysdale really is in a good place as he puts the finishing touches on preparations for his 10th international campaign. His splits in training have been right up there and he feels ready to take things up a notch on last year’s effort, which was not quite good enough to beat staunch rival Ondrej Synek when it counted.

In fact, Drysdale is feeling so upbeat that he appears to momentarily lose control of his sanity and ponders whether, in the immortal words of George Gregan, he might go four more years.

Then the veteran, husband of Juliette (herself an Olympic bronze medallist from London) and father of baby Bronte, catches himself. By Tokyo 2020 he would be 41. The thought of still doing two-a-day pieces on Karapiro into his 40s kicks in. The thought of leaving