From a young age Drew was a stand-out athlete in several sports including BMX racing and had dreams of being an Olympian. After taking up rowing he rapidly rose to international level in 1994 in the under 23 Eight and was selected the following year for the open Eight at age 20. In 1996 he became the new member of the famous Oarsome Foursome and won gold at the Atlanta Olympics. A repeat gold performance followed by the Oarsomes at the 1998 World Championships as a coxed four and Drew won silver in the coxless pair with Mike McKay. A win in the coxless pair in 1999 with James Tomkins meant they were clear favorites for the Sydney Olympics. However Drew was forced out of the Olympic team by a back injury that took two years of rehabilitation and enormous mental strength to overcome.
By 2002 Drew was clearly back in form coming fourth in the pair with Tomkins at the World Championships and then winning gold in 2003. The pair continued their victorious run at the 2004 Athens Olympics – a second Olympic gold for Drew.
During a year off rowing Drew competed in the gruelling Foster Ironman and returned to win gold at the World Cup and World Championships in 2006 in the coxless pair. Drew is looking forward to continuing his success at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Outside of rowing, Drew has been involved with a number of organisations including the KIDS Foundation, Bluearth Institute, Relay for Life and now Sports Mind Skills. He is a husband, a father of two children, a coach and runs his own business, Qualia Consulting.