Olympic champion Will Satch maintains faith in coach Jürgen Grobler, despite the men’s four only picking up a bronze medal at the World Rowing Championships this weekend.

The 28-year-old switched from the men’s eight to the coxless four for 2017, but was one of three new faces in the boat that only retained Moe Sbihi from the Olympic title winning quartet from 2016.

Satch, who is managing a heart complaint that kept him out of the semi-final at the Florida World Championships before he returned for Saturday’s final, admitted the post-Rio season had been a struggle for the four but backed coach Grobler, who has guided Britain to five consecutive Olympic titles.

“Jurgen is a tough man, people describe him as a bit of a dinosaur sometimes, but when it’s needed he is the man who is there,” said Satch, speaking on behalf of SAS, the official analytics partner of British Rowing. The national team is analysing its data, using SAS technology, to ultimately help make the boats go faster.

“He’s there every day and he’s not young, he’s punching those miles on the bike and is our fifth member. It’s a cliché but it’s true.

“I owe a lot to him, and I know it’s worked in the past – that holds my trust for the future.

“It has been tough mentally, coming away from a positive result over the past years, but we know we will get there and it will build year on year.”

Satch has joined Matthews Rossiter and Matt Tarrant as the new faces in the four this year, with Oliver Wynne-Griffith stepping in to fill his seat when he was forced to sit out last week’s semi-final.

And while Satch may be an Olympic bronze and gold medallist, the four is a new boat to him and he admitted the British squad is not as strong as it once was but that Grobler is the man to get them winning again.

“It might look weaker now compared to previous years, we’ve not always had performances to remember, but when it comes to longevity there will be the top people coming through,” he added.

“Then it’s back to the grind and trusting the process.

“We’ve got a coach in Jurgen Grobler who’s one of the most successful sports coaches of all time – we know things work with him.

“The dream for me is to do get a second Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, that is the sign of a true champion.”

Will Satch was speaking on behalf of SAS – the leader in analytics software and services. SAS is the Official Analytics Partner of British Rowing. Further information at www.sas.com