Karapiro showdown: Waddell v Drysdale

The race is on for the coveted single sculls Olympic spot and that rivals Rob Waddell and Mahe Drysdale have a great deal in common – aside from not liking to lose.

Drysdale and Waddell; more similarities than differences.

In a sport where teamwork is revered, the single sculler stands out. Those that choose to go solo readily admit their single- mindedness.

The documentary The Perfect Stroke describes the single sculler as a special breed, "masochists, stubborn, against the establishment".

Both three-time world champion Mahe Drysdale and 2000 Olympic champion Rob Waddell, have these elements.

The race for the Olympic single spot, rather than being between two dissimilar characters, is between two elite athletes who harbour many similarities.

Drysdale chose the single after finishing fifth in the men's four at the Athens Olympics. He wasn't pleased with this position and backed himself to be better.

The single, Drysdale believed, would be the way forward and Waddell's success at the Sydney Olympics was Drysdale's inspiration.

Confidence in your ability is all-important in the elite game and Drysdale's is far from lacking.

Changing to the single, Drysdale was training for his first international races in his new discipline when he was hit by a water skier and severely injured. Coming back from rehabilitation, Drysdale amazed the rowing world by becoming world champion.

After Drysdale's second defeat to Waddell he stated: "I would certainly suggest you'd be a very brave person to bet against me when I'm locked in a corner I don't want to be in!"

Waddell is also a fighter and is used to backing himself. He stuck at rowing despite being discouraged from the sport as a high school rower.

WADDELL then changed to the single when he learned he had a heart abnormality and he did not want to potentially let his teammates down. In a single, Waddell reasoned, he could only blame himself. Drysdale agrees.

Like Drysdale, Waddell also had a speedy rise to the top. A month after taking to the single, Waddell won the title at the New Zealand rowing championships, earning his spot at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Rowing is a sport that favours tall athletes with long levers. Both Waddell and Drysdale are over 2m tall.

The single- mindedness is evident in both men.

When Waddell was asked what he would do if he lost, he said: "I haven't thought about it."

Drysdale has always maintained the single is the boat he wants to row.

Drysdale may have an edge as the reigning world champion and world best time-holder. But Waddell holds the current psychological advantage after winning three of their four races – and he is faster on the ergometer.

Drysdale knows how to race from behind and win as he showed in 2006 by beating Marcel Hacker in the last stroke of the race. He also knows how to step up at the right time.

But Waddell races only to win and has the physiology and technique to back his resolve.

Both athletes know the trial situation well and they will be doing it on a body of water, Lake Karapiro, that they know intimately.

Both have been coached by head coach Dick Tonks – Waddell for his Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000 and Drysdale for two of his world titles.

So who will win? World Rowing recently ran a poll asking who the public thought would be in the single – Drysdale got 49 per cent of the votes, 11 per cent ahead of Waddell's score.

On the banks of Lake Karapiro during last week's race between the pair there was respectful clapping. The crowd was not cheering for one athlete over another. Instead there was a mood of quiet admiration for two of the world's best athletes racing.

Many believe that if Drysdale and Waddell were to race at the Olympics they would finish first and second. At trials there is every indication the winning margin will be slight.

* A journalist for the International Rowing Federation, FISA, Melissa Bray has reported on international rowing events for the past six years. Before that she was a competitive rower representing New Zealand up to 2000.

- © Fairfax NZ News