Zac Purchase has a lot to live up to.

He is the young British rower saddled with Sir Steven Redgrave's description of having "star quality.''

There could be no better year for his star to rise than in 2008 when the British team will be looking to add to their three Olympic medals in Sydney and four in Athens with at least another three in Beijing.

At 21, Purchase, has moved on from his success in the lightweight single sculls where he won gold at the 2006 world championships.

He needed an Olympic class event and has teamed up with Mark Hunter in the lightweight double sculls.

And while Purchase, who hails from Tewkesbury and is a member of the Marlow Rowing Club, aims to be hitting his peak for the London 2012 games he is clocking up the training hours with an eye on Beijing.

He said: "I enjoy going out and socialising, but sometimes that's just not possible when you need to be up at the crack of dawn the next day, no matter what the weather.

"Training-wise it definitely goes through stages of being really tough. The one thing that keeps me going is I love racing. That's what's always given me the buzz from day one and I keep that in mind during the cold winter months.''

Purchase is Lottery funded through a UK Sport performance grant and while he has been racing at senior level for just 18 months he and Hunter have demonstrated potential in the double sculls with a bronze at the 2007 world championships.

He said: "I definitely think we've got a chance of a medal. I wouldn't turn up if I didn't think we could get on the podium.''