FORMER York City Rowing Club ace Tom Ransley is hoping to bring back European gold for a second successive year as the countdown to Rio 2016 begins.

Ransley will compete in the men's eight boat in Brandenburg from May 4 to 8, although he had previously been earmarked for coxless-four duty at the Olympics.

The ex-University of York student will join recent GB trials pairs partner Scott Durrant, double Olympic fours champions Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge, along with Matt Langridge, Paul Bennett, Matt Gotrel, stroke Will Satch and cox Phelan Hill, in competition at the German venue.

Last year, Ransley was part of a four-man crew, with Durrant, Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes, who were crowed European champions in Poland.

On the prospect of winning another title, ex-University of York student Ransley said: “The whole squad has been focussed on developing their base fitness levels through the winter, and we are feeling very strong. Rowing is a lesson in what you put in, you get out, so there have been lots of tough hard miles and I am excited to start the racing season.

“The European Championships will be our first race and it will be a good marker to see where we are at and assess what areas to focus on. There's a fantastic atmosphere in the team and I am feeling good about our preparations so far.

“But there is still a lot left to do before the Games and no one will be backing off or getting complacent.”

Alongside Germany, the GB team will compete in three World Cup Series regatta right up to June.

There will then be a brief break before the Olympics take place from August 5 to August 21 in South America.

Ransley, who won bronze as part of the men's eight at London 2012, recently joined Durrant to finish sixth from 18 pairs at the GB trials.

On that performance, he added: “Scott and myself beat more established pairs that included multiple World and Olympic champions, such is the strength in depth we have. In the relatively short space of time our pair had together, I think we progressed well and, while there was potential to climb a few places higher, it was tight and we developed our racing throughout the regatta.

“It felt like a good place to be for this early stage in the season and we showed a robust foundation with the potential to grow our speed in the coming months. There are a few areas I would like to tweak if we ever got the chance to perfect that crew over a longer time period, but, with Scott coming from Lancaster, I’m just glad it didn’t become a War of the Roses!”

Having enjoyed success in the past as a member of eight and four-man teams, Ransley is also not ruling out a future in pairs, adding: “The Olympic strategy is a closely guarded secret but, looking past Rio and into distant summer seasons to come, the pair would be a fun boat to race.

“It can be tricky, but I've never had a long project in a pair, so maybe doing a season could be a nice change. That said I'd probably miss the raw power and speed of eights racing, so who knows?”