Drysdale has been as good as his word. Since the world championships, he has married Olympic bronze medallist Juliette Haigh, honeymooned in the Seychelles on the island of Mahe (which he is named after) and becomes a dad in October. His circumstances have changed, but not the focus on defending his Olympic title or securing a record sixth men's single sculling world championship - he's currently level with West German Peter-Michael Kolbe.
Under coach Dick Tonks and women's double training partners Zoe Stevenson and Fiona Bourke, Drysdale made enough progress to win the last two World Cups as well as the Royal Henley Regatta. He's the man to beat in Amsterdam this week.
"Last year I was worse than expected but there were compelling reasons," he says. "Ultimately, my plan has always been Rio. I've put in the work and met my goal of returning to a competitive space. I'm in good enough form to win.
"It's been a massive benefit to train with the women's double. They're one of the reasons I'm where I'm at. There's nothing like that competition on a daily basis, pushing each other with no respite. It was hard for eight months, then things started to click."
Drysdale has peppered his on-water training with recreational cycling, even though he's twice been knocked off his bike - and hit by a water-skier - which jeopardised major campaigns.
In June, fellow single sculler Emma Twigg, team physiologist Dan Plews and Drysdale ascended the 2645m summit of Col du Galibier, occasionally the highest point in the Tour de France. He later joined Twigg, Eric Murray, Hamish Bond and Rebecca Scown to scale Mont du Chat. In pre-season training, Drysdale pedaled 10,000 vertical metres with a Dutch friend around Europe, including two trips up Mont Ventoux, one of Le Tour's most famous climbs.
"They're tough sessions but that's what we need, pushing the limits and removing the monotony and sampling some lovely countryside," he says.
The top echelon of scullers has hardly changed since Drysdale first adapted to two oars in 2005. Czech Ondrej Synek has been his most consistent rival and, when Synek or Drysdale have been present, no other men's single sculler has won a Fisa-sanctioned event since the Beijing Olympics. Drysdale has taken gold and Synek silver at the last two World Cups.
The respect is clear, especially after Synek's 58-year-old father died of a heart attack this year. On the podium at Aiguebelette in France, Drysdale and Cuban bronze medallist Angel Rodriguez chose to lift Synek as a mark of respect even though Drysdale had won the race.
"Our rivalry's always been good," Drysdale says. "We are friends and losing a parent is never a nice thing so there was sympathy but, on the water, those things must be put behind you and replaced by fierce competition."
As a newly married man and prospective parent, matters of mortality appear more of a focal point. With presumably only two years of his rowing career left (Drysdale will be 38 not long after Rio) he's got a system in place to deal with his final push at Olympic glory.
"I'm fortunate to have someone as good as Juliette as my wife who understands what I'm doing. She's been a huge support over the past year because I've struggled with the return to the necessary level of training.
"Most of the time I'm laid out on the couch when I get home and she takes care of me," Drysdale laughs. "Once the baby arrives, things will change and there will be a different perspective on life but, while rowing is hard, there is a lot of downtime. It is not a job where I am away from 6am-8pm."
Kiwis at the world champs
1. Emma Twigg
With a sabbatical scheduled next year, this is the 27-year-old's best chance at world championship gold having won all three World Cups this season and twice defeating incumbent world champion Kim Crow.
2. Erin-Monique O'Brien, Lucy Spoors, Georgia Perry and Sarah Gray
The quadruple sculls crew won two bronze medals at World Cups and have competed strongly on the New Zealand squad's prognostics chart, which measures how each crew stacks against their peers.
3. Louise Trappitt and Rebecca Scown
Trappitt replaced Kayla Pratt, despite Pratt and Scown taking bronze last year. Under-23 pair Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast beat them at the Lucerne World Cup to take silver. The pressure's on.
4. Eric Murray, Hamish Bond and Caleb Shepherd
Shepherd, the cox of the world champion under-23 eight, takes charge of Bond and Murray who have entered the coxed pair to break the monotony in their sixth season of coxless dominance.
5. Curtis Rapley, Peter Taylor, James Lassche and James Hunter
Earned New Zealand's first world championship medal last year in the lightweight four with silver and, with wins in the last two World Cups, are poised to advance further.
