Making Drysdale work | Hawkes Bay Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Hawkes Bay

It can't get any bigger for the Hawke's Bay rowing fraternity ... the world's male rower of the year, Mahe Drysdale, will race at the annual Clive regatta on Monday.

For host club rowers Michael Harrison and Giacomo Thomas, it will be the first time they have taken on the four-time world champion on their home river.

The pair couldn't be approaching the occasion in a more appropriate manner.

"We don't want him to have it easy ... we've got to make him work for a win," said Thomas, who finished 14 seconds behind Drysdale over 2000m at Lake Karapiro last weekend.

Drysdale's unbeaten run this year included two World Cup titles at Munich and Lucerne, the Diamond Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta and the world title at Poznan, Poland.

A bronze medallist with the Kiwi quad at the world under-19 championships in France in August, Thomas will also tackle the open double and quad events on Monday.

The Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools 2009 Sportsperson of the Year wants to trial for the New Zealand under-23 squad and is aiming for national under-21 single and doubles titles.

Harrison, 22, described the opportunity to race against Drysdale as "a bit of fun".

"We'll just see what happens. I'm not setting my sights too high," said Harrison, who will be one of four members of his family in action on Monday.

The Maulder Builders apprentice knows the inside lane will be the best one to draw. He agreed it was a pity the locals couldn't allocate Drysdale the toughest lane.

 Harrison raced Drysdale at last summer's Karapiro II regatta and "finished a fair way behind him".

Should Harrison, who like Thomas is coached by Don McDonald, under-achieve on Monday it won't be through lack of training- he has put in 24 hours a week in recent weeks.

Add the 45 hours a week he spends at work and Harrison couldn't be better prepared physically.

"Another national title would be nice this summer," said Harrison, referring to the fact he and clubmate Cam Smith won the senior doubles title at last summer's nationals.

They will tackle the open pair and doubles races on Monday and Harrison is also likely to start in the open four and open eight races.

While Drysdale will be the big drawcard in the male events, fellow Olympian Emma Twigg of the host club should again dominate the female events as Hawke's Bay attempts to win the top club trophy for a fourth year.

Hawke's Bay will be one of 10 clubs represented and the regatta will involve 192 rowers. Kayaking events will be part of the regatta for the third consecutive year.