Searle takes the hard road to 2012

Greg Searle won gold with brother Jonny and cox Garry Herbert in 1992

Searle burst to prominence way back in 1992 in Barcelona, when he won a dramatic gold in a coxed pair with brother Jonny and cox Garry Herbert (and the current BBC commentator's tears on the podium made it a classic Olympic moment).

In 1996, he and Jonny were in a coxless four which took bronze in Atlanta and, four years later, Searle and Ed Coode suffered the agonising disappointment of being pushed into fourth place in the last strokes of the coxless pairs final in Sydney.

"I competed in three Olympics then I thought it was right to retire, get a serious job and have a family," Searle told me.

"The 2012 Olympics is such a big pull. The thought is that if it's going to happen here, in this city, I want to be a part of it."

Since his last Olympic appearance, Searle has competed in sailing's America's Cup Challenger Series as a grinder, taken part in the London Marathon and London Triathlon, reached the final of the BBC's Superstars series and has remained a regular on the club rowing circuit.

He is currently a director of Lane4, a company established by former Olympic swimming champion Adrian Moorhouse which offers lessons learned in sport to the business community.

And he was a commentator for rowing's world governing body Fisa at the 2009 World Championships in Poznan, Poland.

His children, eight-year-old Josie and six-year-old Adam, don't even remember his last international appearance, and think it is quite cool that their Dad might be going to an Olympics.

However, making a comeback doesn't just involve turning up at GB Rowing's glittering training headquarters in Caversham, near Reading, and being welcomed back into the fold. Searle has to prove himself in a series of trials over the course of the winter.

The 37-year-old grins at the memory of having won the trial for 85 leading young prospects - from outside the senior Great Britain squad - in October.

A scheduled long-distance trial in Lincolnshire last Saturday was cancelled because of the poor weather but a behind-closed-doors version was organised in Caversham, with the stars of the Beijing Olympics involved.

The results are being kept private but Searle's smile says all we need to know before the next set of public assessments on 14 February and the April trials, which will figure large as the squad for the 2010 World Cup season is selected.

There is history on this stretch of river in Marlow, where Sir Steve Redgrave spent the early part of his Olympic career training in the 1980s, storing his boat in his coach's garden.

But, in an era when Great Britain's top Olympic sports and athletes boast world-class training facilities, Searle's conditions are spartan, with a battered caravan the only shelter from the elements.

But he said: "To go to the Olympics gets me out of bed, so when the alarm clock goes off at six I want to get up, sometimes I'm even awake before it.

"It's brilliant to see the sun come up while I'm training, get home to have breakfast with the kids and still be in the office by nine o'clock."

In the New Year, Searle will cut down on his work commitments. He won't be centrally funded unless he gains a place in the GB squad, but he has already found sponsorship to plug some of the gap.

If he returns to the GB squad, he will also be able to join their daily training sessions in Caversham, with a 2000m lake only they can use, a spectacular gym and support staff to take care of aches, pains and worries.

"I [currently] have to fit it around my job but to be honest that's the way it used to be," said Searle.

"My aspiration is to try to be better than ever in the system we have now, which is such a good system."

"The core group are training 20 times a week, while I'm training to build up to 10 times a week."

Step one of Searle's plan is to get into the squad that will compete in the World Championships in New Zealand next October.

If he keeps performing this year, head coach Jurgen Grobler must decide whether Searle's experience could help a young group in the men's eight or quadruple scull.

"My aspiration is to get into the team in 2010, get a [world] medal in 2011 and shoot for gold in 2012," he said.

His aim is by no means unique. Redgrave was 38 when he won his fifth Olympic gold in Sydney and James Tomkins made the 2008 Olympic final in the Australian eight, two days before his 43rd birthday.

Searle and Coode were pushed into fourth place in the last few strokes of their final in Sydney

But attention will have to be paid to his training programme, as it tends to take older athletes longer to recover from performing flat out and the impact on joints could be higher.

And it may be tougher for him to force his way into the top crews - sculler Alan Campbell, the men's pair and men's four (including Matt Langridge, whose boat Searle is currently borrowing) all won world medals in August while double scullers Steve Rowbotham and Matt Wells were Olympic bronze medallists in 2008.

Searle was still smiling as he put his boat away and drove off to meet wife Jenny, while our cameraman tried to thaw his freezing fingers.

He is naturally confident but also philosophical, with the strength of character forged from that agonising defeat in his final Olympic appearance playing a crucial role.

"Maybe I won't make the team," he said. "But I'll be happy to have challenged myself."

Last week I asked on 606 whether Searle could make it to London 2012. Here's what people had to say. Do you think he can get back into the squad for the Olympics and if so can he win another medal?