The rowers will compete across 13 of the 14 Olympic boat classes taking place at the Eton Dorney venue this summer and once selections are finalised in the men's and women's eights boats in the near future, the squad will stand at 52, including five reserves, to surpass the 46 rowers named for Barcelona 1992 exactly 20 years ago.

Five of the six Olympic champions from Beijing 2008 have been selected with Andrew Triggs Hodge, Peter Reed and Tom James looking to defend their title in the men's four – this time with Alex Gregory instead of the retired Steve Williams – while Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase (pictured above) will have the opportunity to do the same in the lightweight men's double scull.

Another of the headline picks is 40-year-old Greg Searle, who won Olympic gold two decades ago at the Barcelona 1992 in the men's coxed pair.

This time around, Searle will compete in the men's eight in what will be his fourth Olympic Games and his first since Sydney 2000.


Elsewhere, triple Olympic silver medallist Katherine Grainger and partner Anna Watkins (pictured above) will be leading the women's medal hopes in the double scull event as Team GB's women aim to record their first ever Olympic gold medal.

"It's been an incredible honour and privilege to be part of the past three Olympic Games and as wonderful as they have all been there is a sense that the upcoming home Games will be on a different scale to anything we've ever seen before," Grainger said here at the announcement.

"As athletes we already feel the incredible support, enthusiasm, pride and excitement from the public and that will just keep building to the Games."

In addition to the established names, world championship medallists Helen Glover and Victoria Thornley have become the first athletes discovered through the talent scouting programme Sporting Giants to be selected to represent Team GB at London 2012.

The joint UK Sport and English Institute of Sport (EIS) initiative sought tall and talented athletes with the potential to compete at the Olympics in the sports of rowing, handball and volleyball, and Thornley (pictured below) admitted her delight.


"This Olympics was always the aim, but I knew it was going to be hard," said the former catwalk model and show jumper.

"You don't let yourself think anything about the Olympics until you are actually selected."

At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Team GB rowers won an six medals, two of which were gold, to lead the medal table in the sport and GB Rowing team performance director David Tanner said Britain are ready to defend their crown as the world's best.

"We are an ambitious sport going into the Games and certainly the best supported we have ever been thanks to our funding from the National Lottery," Tanner said.

"We go to the start in London ready to defend our status as the leading rowing nation from Beijing but we are under no illusion as to how tough winning medals, especially gold medals, will be at this Games."


The addition of the rowers brings the total number of athletes officially selected to compete for Team GB at London 2012 to 178 and Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt admitted that he expects the sport to be one of Britain's strongest at the games.

"As we move into the final 50 days of preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games, I am delighted to announce the 48 athletes selected to Team GB in the sport of rowing," he said.

"I am confident that our rowers will play a leading role in Team GB – Our Greatest Team – and will once again challenge for the status of top rowing nation and look to emulate the six medal haul that they won in Beijing in 2008."

Team GB has won 54 Olympic medals to date, including 24 golds, making them the third most successful country in the history of Olympic rowing.

The full team is available to view here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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