Phelan Hill believes the seeds are starting to be sown for more British Rowing success on the Olympic stage following the significant exodus of talent after Rio 2016.

With Olympic gold and three world titles to his name in the men’s eight, the former Great Britain coxswain knows exactly what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

The 39-year-old from Bedford guided the eight to gold at three successive World Championships and Rio 2016, having previously won a bronze medal at London 2012.

Hill subsequently became one of several stars to announce their retirement since the last Olympics, with British Rowing performance director Sir David Tanner also stepping down.

But while Hill recognises that it will take time for the next generation to show what they are made of, he is confident the talent will blossom in time for Tokyo 2020.

“I think British Rowing is going through a big period of transition and from the group I raced with in Rio a lot of people have gone now,” he said.

“There is a lot of change, but what you are starting to see - I think last year was very much a development year - but now we’re starting to see some seeds coming through in a way.

“There are better performances, I still follow the men’s team very closely and you can see a lot of success, the sculling on the men’s side is very strong.

“The men’s sweep is coming along and there’s a big eight which is doing well and on the women’s side as well the sculling has been very successful.

“One thing British Rowing do well is there is a good talent pathway and actually at the moment there are a lot of good athletes who are rowing over in America.

“What British Rowing have started doing well is recognising those talented athletes and starting to bring them back when perhaps traditionally they haven’t.”

Hill admits it will be tough for the new crop of British talent to replicate the success of the last two Olympiads, but he has seen promising signs ahead of the European and World Championships.

“The beauty of rowing is there are no individual stars in a way, it’s like a team collective thing, but I’d say on the sculling side there is a lot of very exciting youngsters coming through,” he said.

“There are also some people who are a little bit more experienced, you look at the men’s quad you have Jonny Walton and John Collins who are starting to come through.

“Graeme Thomas had a big upset in Rio and he missed out, but I’m sure that will just fuel his fire now and obviously Tom Barras has just come in and he’s a bit of a rising star.

“He came from nowhere last year and got a bronze medal, so there are stars there but it’s not so much around individuals, it is about a collective.

“I remember in the past, my eight from London 2012 had a lot of individual stars but we didn’t quite get the team dynamic right, so it’s down to a little bit of both.”

Hill was speaking in his role as City Champion for Nottingham at the Power8 Sprints, a new initiative launched by British Rowing to attract a wider audience to the sport.

He was on hand to give the teams advice at Bristol Harbour Festival but was called out of retirement briefly to help out the women’s team – and he was quick to praise the Power8 experience.

“They had a last-minute issue on the coxing front, so I got the call up,” he said. “I hadn’t actually done that much racing since Rio so I loved being back in the boat.

“I think Power8 racing will raise the profile of the sport. I’ve been in rowing for around 15 years and one thing that is always trying to happen is the evolution of the sport.

“Full marks to British Rowing as they are trying to push the sport on and pen up opportunities to new people and it’s a new innovative format, fast, furious racing.”

The inaugural Power8 Sprints took place in Bristol on 22nd July. To find out how the action unfolded visit www.power8sprints.com