THE 2011 campaign started in bitter sweet fashion for York City Rowing Club oarsman Tom Ransley.

Racing as part of the Great Britain eight at the opening World Cup regatta in Munich, Ransley claimed a silver medal but was again forced to play second fiddle to the host nation.

The 25-year-old University of York graduate and his team-mates went into the regatta aiming to gain revenge for last year’s defeat by Germany at the World Championships in New Zealand.

However, after winning their opening time trial in Munich, they lost to the hosts in the heats and then – having come through the repecharge – finished second to them again in the final.

Ransley said: “Silver is a good, solid start to the season, but it’s our intention to win and to get gold.

“However, World Cups are important in their own right and married with this is their importance for learning and developing, going forward towards the World Championships and beyond that the Olympics.

“We know we have a really good eight, with strong foundations in place. We also know now where we need to improve to make the necessary speed gains down the track so we can come out in front of the rest of the field.

“We’re now going to sharpen our strategy and training in line with the information we have gathered this weekend.”

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.