ALEX Gregory and the men’s four will be champing at the bit to get out to Brazilian waters and turn confidence into success, according to two-time Olympic silver medallist Debbie Flood, writes Luke Baker.

A long four years of hard work and dedication is almost over for Gloucestershire's Gregory as he looks to successfully defend the men’s four gold medal he won at London 2012.

He will, however, aim to do so alongside a different crew with fellow winners Tom James, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs-Hodge replaced by Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and Constantine Louloudis.

The 32-year-old was a part of the men’s eight which won World Championship gold last year and then European gold as part of the men’s four – the same crew in which he has been named for Rio.

And Flood – who won quadruple sculls silver at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 – believes it is a measure of Gregory’s standing in the eyes of head coach Jurgen Grobler that he has been named to help lead the successful defence of the men’s four Olympic title.

“It’s the lead men’s boat, it’s been going really well this season even when they had a sub in,” said Flood, speaking at the first ever Invesco Perpetual City Rowing Regatta held in Edinburgh.

“They’ve got real confidence and Jurgen instills that in them too.

“They will be aiming high and they won’t have doubts in their minds. They will be training hard and looking to get out there and racing.

“Our men’s sweep and sculling group are such a strong group of guys just in the whole aspect of medalling and their belief and confidence.

“Jurgen will deem which group of guys has the most potential for that gold medal and it’s often the four. But the depth after that is extremely strong.”

At London 2012, British crews picked up four gold medals and nine podium finishes in total.

Despite no longer holding home advantage, hopes are high for further success on Brazilian waters, although Flood admitted the next few weeks of training are crucial when it comes to getting the edge on their opponents.

“It depends on how late the crews were selected,” she added. “The world is going to keep moving on in these 40 days so even if they have had a successful World Cup season, you can never be complacent.

“You are always looking to tweak things, to be smoother together, to work on your technique.

“It’s about fractions of a second, medals can be won or lost by a fraction of a second.

“Each day will count and always does, both in your team building and your technical and strength work.

“Our rowing team is still of such good quality. We’ve got really good results this year, they’ll be looking to Rio to get medals.

“The men’s team has been strong, the women’s team has had a few changes in the boats but they are strong and will also be going there looking to punch for medals.”

Invesco Perpetual’s innovative new ‘City Regatta’ event is a celebration of the achievements of Leander Club, the main feeder club to the GB team with 22 of its rowers headed for Rio, and aims to encourage more people across the UK to get involved in rowing.