"In her own words she sucked and went to the 'safe' sport of BMX."
A massive cheer went up when the two Olympians took the rostrum for shared speaking duties, with Walker saying it was the most exciting and wonderful crowd she had ever experienced.
Drysdale said it was awesome to be there and the welcome made all the effort of getting a gold medal worthwhile.
Walker said she was eight when she decided to be an Olympian while Drysdale played every sport he could at school and was nine when he was inspired by American sprinter Carl Lewis at the 1988 Olympics.
"I thought, one day I would like to go to the Olympics."
Drysdale said that although he was not very good at sport at school he did enjoy it and it wasn't until he reached university and thought his Olympic dream was never going to happen that he found rowing.
"We weren't special or different from any other kids, but we had a dream and set our goals."
Although Walker won silver, she said it felt like gold because she had given everything she could.
"Mahe came to see my race, which was pretty cool. I thought I had better make him proud."
The two sports stars agreed the Olympic Village's food hall was awesome although Walker said one of the things she looked forward to after the Olympics had finished was unlimited free McDonald's.
The Aims Games, hosting children from Kaitaia to Christchurch, was officially opened by Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby and for the first time included a small contingent from Australia. Competitions began yesterday and will finish on Friday.