Searle aims to turn back the clock

The Marlow rower topped the podium in Barcelona in 1992 and now, nine years after retiring from the sport, he has returned with London 2012 in mind.

Searle will be 40 then, but he does not see it as a problem and his form has earned him a recall to the British squad which will compete in Bled in the first World Cup of the summer next weekend.

He said: “I have proved I can train, now I get the opportunity to prove I can race.

“Getting into a racing boat for Bled is a big stepping stone on the way to 2012.”

Seale followed gold in Barcelona with a bronze in Atlanta in 1996.

He originally retired in 2000 but got the bug again after commentating on a World Cup race in Poland last August.

He said: “It’s been such a journey of discovery the whole way, and for much of the way I have not known whether I can do it. Now I’ve got the belief and confidence.

“I can’t wait to get out to Bled and see where I stand and where the crew stand against the rest of the world.”

Searle will compete in the GB eight squad in Bled, while gold medal winner from Beijing Zac Purchase will compete in the lightweight single scull.

The Marlow star won Olympic gold alongside Wycombe’s Mark Hunter in the lightweight doubles.

Hunter went to America to coach after the Olympics and now has a back problem, but he is expected to return to the boat in time for the next World Cup, in Munich next month.

Meanwhile, Katherine Grainger is still torn between disciplines and in Bled the four-time world champion and three-time Olympic silver medalist will compete in two boats.

Grainger won all her Olympic medals in a four before switching to single sculls last year and adding a silver in the World Championships.

Now she will partner Anna Watkins in a double while also joining up with Annabel Vernon and Beth Rodford in a quad.

Wycombe’s Naomi Riches is also in. She has been selected in the adaptive mixed coxed four, a boat she also competed in at the 2009 World Championships in Poznan.