YORK City Rowing Club star Tom Ransley has retained his place in the Great Britain eight for the start of this season’s World Cup series.

The 25-year-old oarsman, who was part of the GB silver medal-winning eights crew in last year’s World Championships in New Zealand, has been named in the squad for the World Cup opener in Munich from May 27 to 29.

The University of York graduate earned his place with a series of impressive performances at the senior trials weekend on the London 2012 Olympic lake at Eton and during subsequent testing. Harrogate-born Debbie Flood retains her seat in the quadruple scull, while North Yorkshire’s Andrew Triggs-Hodge, of Hebden, is in the pairs with Pete Reed.

The two other races in the World Cup series will be held in Hamburg from June 17 to 19 and in Lucerne between July 8 and 10. The season then ends with the World Championships in Slovenia in August, which is the first Olympic qualifying event for London 2012. That team will be named in mid-July.