ANDY Hodge will start the quest to win his first World Rowing Championship gold medal in Japan next week.

The rower from Hebden is part of the Great Britain men's coxless four team which is highly fancied to do well in the championships which begin in Gifu on Sunday.

A string of recent World Cup successes by the team - which also features Olympic gold medallist Steve Williams, Alex Partidge and Peter Reed - means they are among the favourites along with America and Australia.

It will be the fourth major championships for the former Upper Wharfedale pupil but his first in the coxless four boat.

He has had mixed experiences in the previous three as part of the men's eight team.

A sixth place in Seville in 2002 was followed by a bronze medal in Milan a year later before the crew disappointed badly in last year's Olympics in Athens, not even qualifying for the final stages.

Hodge said: "Sixth in Seville was really good as we were very young and inexperienced. In Milan we exceeded expectations by taking bronze, but Athens was pretty terrible. We went there really optimistic and ended up bottling out."

Hodge's stock has risen considerably since Athens and the 26-year-old is currently unbeaten in competitive racing this season.

He impressed as strokeman for the Oxford Blue Boat team which were comprehensive winners over Cambridge in this year's boat race.

This was followed by him retaining his men's pairs title at the British senior rowing trials, teaming up with Peter Reed after winning with Alex Partridge the previous year. And Hodge, who has been studying at Oxford University this year, then won the three World Cup regattas at Eton, Munich and Lucerne with his current team-mates.

But good though these achievements are, the main prize of the year is world championship gold.

Looking ahead to the event, Hodge said: "To win gold would be my best achievement and would be the pinnacle so far. The boat race was an early event at a high level and this is taking the bar up again. The races will be harder and faster. Everyone trains for this event and the World Cups are really a precursor to the World Championships."

His position in the team as strokeman, closest to the stern of the boat, is particularly important as the rest of the crew will follow his timing.

The team flew out from Heathrow last Thursday following a rigorous month of training largely made up of three weeks' high altitude work at a camp in Austria.

He expects the Americans to provide a major challenge as their team consists of the four who were sat in the stern of the Olympic gold-winning eight boat.