Greg Searle raises London 2012 expectations

GB's men's eight team working hard for their silver

Searle's 'magnificent eight' take silver

Greg Searle expects to win at London 2012 - and gain a second Olympic gold 20 years after his first - after taking world silver a year into his comeback.

Searle, 38, was in the GB men's eight in New Zealand in November, winning his first world medal since 1997.

"My goal is to win gold in 2012 because I've won silver in 2010, with less than a year of full, flat-out training.

"I need to be winning a gold medal. Otherwise it won't be as good as what I've just done," he told BBC Sport.

Searle won Olympic gold in Barcelona in 1992 with brother Jonny and cox Garry Herbert, and bronze in a four in 1996, before retiring after the 2000 Olympics.

I always had the belief that if I did the right things I would end up being part of the squad

Greg Searle

When he decided in October 2009 to make a comeback for London, he set a schedule of returning to the squad in 2010, aiming for a world medal in 2011 and "shooting for gold" in 2012.

But he has raised his expectations after being part of a Great Britain crew that was disappointed to lose to Germany by less than half a boat length in the World Championships final in Karapiro.

Searle trained on his own for much of last winter before breaking back into the GB squad in April, then taking part in the World Cup series through the summer.

"It's a heck of a lot easier sitting on a rowing machine for an hour when there's 20 of you doing it than when I'm sitting in my spare room at home," he told the British Olympic Dreams programme.

"I guess I always had the belief that if I did the right things I would end up being part of the squad."

Watch the full interview with Greg Searle on British Olympic Dreams on the BBC News Channel this week.