A post shared by Robbie Manson (@robbie_manson)Manson and his partner, Ben Mason, finished 11th in the men’s double scull to secure New Zealand a spot. “Reflecting on this campaign, it’s been a remarkable and somewhat unexpected ride,” wrote Manson on Instagram. “When I retired in 2019, returning to rowing was the furthest thing from my mind.
However, at the end of last year, I dipped my oars back into the water ‘just for fun.’ It was a casual return, driven by my love for the sport.
But as time went on, that casual involvement evolved into something more significant.”Manson made his decision to return to rowing full-time in March, and hasn’t looked back. “The past few months have been a whirlwind, filled with intense training, preparation, and camaraderie,” he wrote.A post shared by Robbie Manson (@robbie_manson)The world’s best time holder in the men’s single sculls –a 200-meter course that became the Olympic standard in 1912– Manson stepped away from the sport to prioritize his mental health.“This is all I knew,” he said in an interview. “It was really scary to step away for a lot of reasons, because I didn’t know anything else.
But I also knew that I needed to.”It took special circumstances for Manson to return, one of which was the opportunity to compete with Mason.