KATHERINE Grainger finished second on her competitive return to rowing at the weekend.

The Marlow superstar, who is Britain’s most successful ever female rower, finished four seconds behind Melanie Wilson in the GB Rowing Team Assessments in Boston.

It was her first race since she won gold with Anna Watkins at London 2012, ending a run of three silver medals at the the previous Olympic Games.

Grainger took a two-year break from rowing after that, but returned to training in September with Rio 2016 the ultimate aim.

She said: “I think it’s nearly three years from my last set of trials at Boston so I was prepared for these to be a bit of a shock.

“But I was happy on many levels – from the high standard of competition to the huge numbers of athletes ready and raring to break into the British team to the great camaraderie that was obvious even at an event as stressful as trials.

“As for my own performance I still have a long way to go yet to where I want to be but it was a decent start after a few weeks back training and has reassured me that I still have the desire and drive for competition that I’ve always had.”