Whitton rower Jon Collins has been named in the Great Britain team for next week’s World Under 23 Championships in Holland.

The 22-year-old is one a 49-strong squad of Olympic prospects heading to Amsterdam on Thursday hoping to match GB’s best-ever medal-tally of a gold, three silvers and three bronzes at last year’s U23 Championships in Brest, Belarus.

Collins, who is in the men’s quadruple sculls boat, started rowing at Putney Town Rowing Club when he had to choose a sport for his Duke of Edinburgh Award and his dad suggested he might be good at rowing.

He is now a member of the prestigious Leander Club in Henley and was selected for the same event last year in Brest, finishing ninth.

And team manager Steve Gunn, who coached Greg and Jonny Searle to gold in the coxed pairs at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, reckons the race for gold is wide open.

“The nature of the U23s is that form is difficult to predict before you get there,” he said.

“It makes for exciting racing, so we’re looking forward to it.”