Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale contemplates Tauranga City Council run

The Olympic gold medallist and world rowing champion is considering joining the Tauranga City Council race.

Considering his family’s legacy of civic involvement and inspired by the potential for Tauranga’s future, Drysdale is nearing a decision ahead of the July council elections, according to legacy media.

His potential candidacy brings a fresh perspective, even amidst family involvement, with his uncle Doug Owens already eyeing the mayoralty.

In an emotional speech delivered at the Sir Bob Owens Retirement Village, named after his grandfather and former mayor, Drysdale reflectied on how his grandfather’s values and achievements inspired his commitment to the sport of rowing and community service.

‘What I got out of that was the determination he had to succeed, no matter what. That’s certainly been a great lesson to me and my career and what I’ve done.’

Speaking about a potential run-off against his uncle Doug, Drysdale said, ‘It’s obviously hard if you are going to run against your family member but you have to say if you can offer a different perspective. If I were to run, it would be a completely different sort of perspective.’

Meanwhile Doug Owens, son of Sir Bob, was not phased by a challenge, saying, ‘It is a democracy and people make their choices … we’re all coming from different perspectives.. It’s all democracy at work here and we’ve got to get it back into place in this city.’