Wimbledon rower Sophie Hosking has vowed not to give her rivals any advantage this winter as she prepares to qualify for the London Olympics.

The 24-year-old and women’s lightweight double scull partner Hester Goodsell, finished fifth at the World Championships in New Zealand to take the gloss off a year that saw them win a gold and two silvers in three World Cup regattas.

And Hosking, who jets off to a three-week Team GB training camp in Portugal in January, insists she is doing everything to make up for the disappointing display at Lake Karapiro in a key year for her 2012 hopes.

“There are always people coming behind you, so you have to defend your position in the boat, but you also have to push yourself to be better,” she said.

“We are constantly experimenting with new things in order to keep up with the competition in the build up to 2012.

“The world championships were disappointing, but they come around again pretty quickly, so there is a chance to put it right.

“This year is going to be a challenge because we have that added pressure of needing to qualify the boat for London, but that is why we do it.

“The weather hasn’t been great, but you get on with it because I wouldn’t want to give our opposition, who live in warmer countries, any advantage.”

Former Kingston Grammar School student Hosking, who will run the Bushy Park Time Trial on Christmas Day, has only been rowing in the lightweight double sculls for two seasons.

She won Britain’s first world championship medal in the discipline for two years with a bronze at Poznan in 2009, and won two World Cup gold medals in the same year.

But despite slipping back a little in terms of results in 2010, the Durham University chemistry and physics graduate believes they have continued to progress.

“We have moved on in terms of being another year more experienced mentally and physically,” she added.

“This is only my second year in the event and I feel a lot more confident in what I’m doing.

“I’m committed to the project we started two years ago and you can see we are building.”