FORMER York City Rowing Club ace Tom Ransley is confident Great Britain's eight-man boat will peak at the Olympics following a bronze-medal showing at the European Championship.

Ransley's crew trailed five and three seconds behind host country Germany and Russia respectively in Brandenburg.

But the ex-University of York student believes that time can be made up between now and the Rio Games in August.

He said: "I thought our racing in Germany was a mixed bag. There were a lot of positives to be taken away, but also plenty that can be improved on.

"Ultimately, a bronze was not the result we are striving for. However, it is early in the season and we were a long way from our best rowing so, in a way, it is good to reach the podium on a sub-par performance.

"Cool heads and hard work will now be needed and we have a great programme. The training is carefully planned and it consistently delivers exceptionally fast boats at the right time.

"We will really attack the training in the coming weeks and months and push ourselves to attain the highest levels of fitness and technique possible."

The next challenge for Team GB will be a World Cup series event in Lucerne, which will be held from May 27-29, with Ransley targeting an all-out approach, adding: "As the season develops, we will be looking to hone our racing strategy and steadily increase our consistency to deliver top-end performances.

"This means continuing to bed in our crew to really know the crew pattern and rhythm inside and out, as well as learning exactly what it takes to deliver our best speeds down the track. So, from Lucerne, I would want to race hard and push the limit and see which areas start to break first.

"Then, we return to the training centre and work on improving those areas, because everything boils down to a systematic approach that will achieve our best performance come Brazil."

The composition of the different Olympic teams will be decided next month and, after Ransley was originally pencilled in for four-man duty, it now seems more likely that he will compete in the same discipline that saw him win bronze during London 2012.

If that is the case, he will hold no objections, admitting: "I am very committed to the eight. It is the boat class I have a great affinity for, and I really enjoy racing in.

"It is the blue ribbon event in all international regattas and is the fastest boat on the water. The official Olympic team selection is not for a few more weeks, so we will have to wait and see."

Ransley admitted, meanwhile, that he concentrated on his own boat's performance in Germany, rather than the countries who finished higher on the podium, but he does feel the biggest challenges will come from this continent.

"I tend to focus very much on my own rowing and our crew's rhythm and don't spend much time considering the opposition," he explained. "Watching from the bank, I expect our coaches would have a better view of the opposition crews.

"However, having said that, in the very rough conditions we experienced, I expect it was difficult for anyone to make much useful analysis of the technique on display. I'm sure we will get a better idea of how everybody is shaping up in the coming World Cup races.

"If you look at the World Rowing Championships final in 2015, you can see New Zealand just missed out on a podium position, coming in fourth behind the Dutch, so you might expect that crew to be gunning for the eight's event. Other than the Kiwis, though, it was a very European line up in the final.

"Looking further back to past events, the USA and Canada have delivered strong eights and Canada hold the world's best time, but both nations have focussed more on the men's four category recently."