ALEX Gregory says his GB men's quadruple scull is faster than last year and on course to grab a last-chance qualifying slot for the Beijing Olympics.

The Cheltenham-born Evesham RC rower launches out at the Munich World Cup regatta today with one change in the crew from last year.

"I'm always positive about things, but there are definite signs of more speed and I believe we can win a place in China and do well there,"said the 24-year-old.

His crew missed out on Olympic qualification in a tough draw at the Munich world championships last year that saw them go faster than two other qualifiers, but fail to make the Beijing semi-final stages.

Now they have to go to Poland next month with the other unqualified nations for a sudden death shoot out for just two places, but Gregory is confident they can put the night-mare of last September right, starting back on the same German cou-rse this weekend.

"We were well in the mix for qualifying last year, but things didn't go right for us at the end in Munich," said Gregory, who lives in Wormington. ""But overall, it was a good, exciting season with two eighths and a seventh in Luce-rne at the World Cup regattas.

"This time, we've shown significant sings of improvement, and we're working on the principal that it's no good being just about good enough to qualify for China, we've got to be well inside, so we can go to the Games and make a real challenge. We have to move the speed on.

"We're going faster, but now's the time to prove it in racing. We have to perform in Munich, otherwise we might not be going to Poland next month, let alone the Olympics.

"We've beaten quite a few of the crews that are already qualified, so we need to do it again this weekend to get ourselves up and running for the qualifying regatta.

"I'm really confident we can get to China. I'm always trying to be positive, but I genuinely believe we've got what it takes.

"The pressure's on, but we're not overstressed about it. If anything, the pressure's just from the inside, the four of us, burning to do well. We've got everything to gain. We're all desperate to race at the Games and we're just going to give it our best shot."

12:00pm Thursday 8th May 2008

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