FORMER York City Rowing Club ace Tom Ransley is excited to be targeting a third Olympics with the new-look GB men’s eight team.

Ransley is the only surviving member of the crew that struck gold in Rio last year, with attention already now turning to Tokyo 2020 when the University of York graduate, who also won bronze at London 2012, will be 34.

Positioned in a familiar seat five, Ransley was part of a boat including Lance Tredell, Timothy Clarke, Samuel Arnot, Cameron Buchan, Adam Neill, James Rudkin, Thomas Ford and cox Henry Fieldman that finished second in the their maiden competition at the opening World Cup event in Serbia.

The GB team crossed the line less than a second behind the Netherlands boat, with Ransley and his team-mates back in action again this weekend in the Czech Republic.

Offering his thoughts and hopes for the future, Ransley said: "It is exciting to embark on a new journey. It is a fresh line up for the men's eight, compared to the Rio crew and I am the only survivor.

“The World Cup in Belgrade was the first international race of the Olympiad and it was a good opportunity to test out what we have practiced in training, despite having only recently come together as a crew – two weeks prior to the event. It is important to recognise that we are at the very start of this project and, at this stage, it is really important to learn lessons and gain racing experience so that we can improve and progress over the year, and ultimately over the whole Olympiad.

“For some of the guys, Serbia was their first time racing internationally. It is good fun to build a crew up from scratch and help shape and develop the boat's approach and mentality.”