By Frank Smith, Sportsbeat

MATT Gotrel is adamant it is because of Pete Reed that he can now call himself an Olympic rowing champion.

For 35-year-old Reed, Rio 2016 was old hat having won coxless four gold at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

The only difference this time around was that he now found himself in the Team GB men’s eight boat, alongside Olympic debutant Gotrel.

But despite the slightly different surroundings, the outcome was the same, as the men’s eight stormed to gold, with Germany second and the Netherlands settling for bronze.

That meant Reed had secured the hat-trick while Gotrel had marked his maiden Games in the best possible way, and the young pretender was quick to heap praise on his veteran team-mate.

“Pete is absolutely fantastic, he has been there and done it so many times before so brings a heck of an amount of experience to the boat,” said Gotrel, speaking at The Heroes’ Return event at Leander Club in Henley.

“He’s a great character to have around too, knows exactly what to say at just the right times and takes it all on.

“I was sat just behind him, so I think he liked having a young nipper in and around him, we were able to get the best out of each other.

“On the other side of me was Andrew [Triggs Hodge], so I felt a little bit like the bacon in the sandwich between those two.”

Gotrel made his GB Rowing Team debut at the 2012 European Championships, while at that point Reed was already a World and European champion.

And Gotrel admits it is still a dream come true to have rowed alongside his idols.

“Pete is a fantastic ambassador for the sport, I got in quite late and he was a guy I was looking up to even then in 2009, and then they just went and did it again in 2012 which was just phenomenal,” Gotrel added.

“To even be in the same boat as those guys was a huge honour. I remember the first time in the changing rooms at Caversham, I was just starting out my rowing career and Pete and Andrew were my heroes. These were the guys I was aspiring to be, and I realised pretty quickly I couldn’t just follow them around like a fan – they’re my teammates and that’s something which was really nice to think.

“Over the years you gain a massive amount of respect for each other knowing exactly what you all go through in training, so that’s quite nice to build those bonds.”

Invesco Perpetual is the proud supporter of Leander Club. A 14-year relationship built on shared philosophy and commitment to investing in people, nurturing talent and taking a long-term approach, with 123 Olympic & three Paralympic medals won by its members since 1908.