Steve Redgrave struck the first blow in a battle of wits with Britain's Olympic gold medal rivals in the coxless four by welcoming the chance to take revenge against Australia.

Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell go head-to-head with the Aussie quartet of James Stewart, Geoff Stewart, Ben Dodwell and Bo Hanson in Sunday's heat.

The British four suffered a rare defeat against the host nation in July's World Cup showdown in Lucerne but Redgrave is upbeat about launching his bid for a fifth successive Olympic gold against them.

The British and Australian crews are seeded in the Olympic Regatta and also in the field for a heat which starts at 11.30am - 1.30am Sunday morning in Britain - are Slovenia, Romania and Yugoslavia, with the first three crews qualifying for a semi-final on Thursday.

"We're pleased we've got someone good," said Redgrave. "We wanted to draw one of the good crews so we're happy from that point of view.

"Things have started off quite nicely and now it comes down to the races.

"We've had a good camp. It's been a bit windy at times but at the crucial times doing timed pieces and things like that, we've always had good conditions.

"Training-wise it's gone well and we're pleased with the way it's all slotted in."

Under International Rowing Federation rules, heats are seeded based on the results of earlier regattas and the seeded crews are drawn in the central lanes before the remaining entries are randomly drawn.

Three British crews were seeded - the men's coxless pair, coxless four and eight.

The progression system for each boat class varies depending on the number of entries but all crews which do not qualify direct for the next round of the competition get a second chance in the repechage rounds.

Crews racing in Sunday's heats will have repechages on Tuesday, semi-finals (where applicable) on Thursday and medal finals on Saturday.

Crews racing in Monday's heats have repechages on Wednesday, semi-finals (where applicable) on Friday and medal finals on Sunday.

The men's coxless pair of Greg Searle and Ed Coode, also seeded, race in Heat 3 on Sunday at 10.30 (0030am British time) against Slovenia, Canada, Australia (also seeded) and Poland.

The first three crews in each heat of this event qualify for the semi-final.

Again Australia will provide stiff competition in the combination of James Tomkins (gold medallist in the coxless four in Atlanta and world champion in the pair in St Catherines) and new partner Matthew Long, winners in Lucerne.

Other British crews racing on Sunday are the women's coxless pair of Dot Blackie and Cath Bishop.

They are drawn in Heat 2 at 10.00 and their opposition includes the seeded crews from Australia and Canada.

The winner of each of the two heats qualifies direct for the final with the remaining boats racing again in Tuesday's repechages.

Alison Mowbray races in Heat 2 of the women's single scull at 08.40. Seeded in her heat are Roumania Neykova of Bulgaria and Agnieszka Tomczak of Poland.

The winner of each heat qualifies for Thursday's semi-finals with the others racing in Tuesday's repechages.

Matthew Wells goes in Heat 1 of the men's single scull at 09:10 and his opposition includes former world champion Derek Porter (Canada) and the other seed Mattia Righetti (Italy). Again, only the winners go through to the semi-finals and the others to Tuesday's repechages.

The new women's double scull combination of Sarah Winckless and Frances Houghton have their first race together in the opening heat of their event at 10.40.

They are up against seeded crews from the USA and German world champions Jana Thieme and Kathrin Boron.

As in the women's coxless pair, the winners of each heat qualify direct for the final with the others racing in repechages.

British crews racing in Monday's heats are the lightweight men's double scull, the women's quadruple scull and the men's and women's eights.

It will be the first race for the new combination of Tom Middleton and Tom Kay in the lightweight double scull after Middleton replaced Tim Male following his accident at the Gold Coast camp.

They go in Heat 3 at 09:20 and the opposition includes seeded crews from the Holland and Italy.

Only the winners of each heat qualify direct for the semi-finals with repechages for the other crews taking place on Wednesday.

The new line-up in the women's quadruple scull is Miriam Batten, Gillian Lindsay, Katherine Grainger and Guin Batten and they open their Olympic campaign in Heat 1 at 10.10.

The seeded crews in their heat are the USA and Russia. The winner of each heat qualifies direct for Sunday's final with all other crews racing in Wednesday's repechages.

The women's eight race in Heat 1 at 11:00 against Olympic and world champions Romania plus Australia and Belarus with the winners going through direct to the final.

The men's eight are one of the two seeded crews in Heat 2 at 11.30. They take on Australia (over whom they have a 2:1 record this season), Canada and Russia. Again, only the heat winners qualify direct for the final.

Team Manager David Tanner said: "After a superb camp on Australia's Gold Coast, our team is up for racing now and ready to go on Sunday and Monday.

"With three of our men's boats having drawn Australia in the heats, we can expect plenty of needle for the first races and I'm sure our crews will raise their game for this. We intend to do Britain proud."