Sevenoaks rower tastes medal glory at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival

SEVENOAKS rower Tim Grant enjoyed the trip of a lifetime at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival after twice visiting the podium.

The 19-year-old had to wait until the Saturday and the penultimate day of the festival to strut his stuff at the Sydney Regatta Centre – the scene of the rowing at the 2000 Olympics.

But there was bitter disappointment when he finally got underway, as, alongside Ed Grisedale, he finished fourth, agonisingly short of the podium in the men's pairs.

However, the Maidstone Rowing Club member quickly blew that disappointment out of the Australian water 24 hours later as he helped Great Britain's men's four to bronze before returning hours later to repeat the trick in the eight.

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And having opened his regatta in the worst possible position, Grant was delighted that he was able to finish on a high.

"I am really pleased with how the regatta went on a whole and to leave an Olympic competition with two medals is a good result and you can't complain", he said.

"Me and Ed were a bit gutted with how we started, because we just missed out on a medal in the pairs but I am pleased with how we bounced back.

"We did everything we could in the eight just to get the bronze, but we didn't quite have the turn of speed we needed to finish higher up the podium.

"But a bronze medal in an event like the Australian Youth Olympic Festival is a great result, whichever way you look at it.

'These games are definitely the highlight of my career so far, because they are my first major medals for Great Britain and hopefully there are plenty more to come."

This was Grant's first taste of an Olympic-style event and the teenager admitted it had left him hungry for more.

"Although I have done a lot of rowing regattas before, this was the first time I was involved in a multi-sport event and I really enjoyed it."

"It is great to represent Team GB with the Olympic rings on your kit and now I have done it I just want to do it again and again now."

The British Olympic Association prepares and leads British athletes at the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games. It works in partnership with sport national governing bodies to enhance Olympic success and is responsible for championing the Olympic values: www.olympics.org.uk.