MARLOW'S Greg Searle will battle for Olympic rowing gold on Wednesday after the GB men's eights won their repechage this morning.

GB finished a close second behind world champions Germany in their heat and, with only the winners going straight through to the final, had to get back in the water at Dorney Lake again this morning.

But it proved to be no hassle as they finished ahead of Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Poland and Ukraine to secure a final place.

For Searle it's the latest chapter in one of the Games' most romantic stories.

He won gold in Barcelona in 1992 but retired from rowing more than ten years ago. However, the prospect of competing at London 2012 lured him back to the sport and, now 40, he is within one race of a second Olympic gold medal 20 years and two days after his first.