Chester's Vicky Thornley admitted she had Rio on the brain as she propelled herself to gold at the British Rowing Championships.

This weekend saw Thornley join the great and the good of British rowing at Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre for two days of action-packed sport.

And after sitting out Saturday’s action the former Abbey Gate College pupil announced herself with a bang 24 hours later as she helped a Leander Club A boat win their quadruple sculls semi-final in 6:47.49 minutes.

But Thornley and co weren’t done there, going on to shave almost five seconds off in the final en route to the gold medal.

And with Rio 2016 looming large on the horizon, Thornley revealed she had all the motivation she needed to lay down an early marker.

“It’s nice to come to the British Championships and race, we’ve only been back in training three weeks, so it is a bit of a shock to the system,” said the 27-year-old, who will now turn her attentions to the first GB selection trials in Boston, Lincolnshire, at the end of the month.

“We wanted to win this weekend. We’ve got the trials coming up in a few weeks time so it’s about getting race ready."

“We’ll be back in singles in Boston and it will be a long distance trial. It’s the first trial of the Olympic year so it’s important for me to put down a good marker there."

“It’s just really important to have a good solid winters training and good trial results to put myself in the boat I want to be in."

“Rio will hopefully be my second Games and I absolutely want to be there and be in the boat I would like to be in as well."

“That’s where my sight is on this year as well. It’s about putting markers down in the winter to show that I am good enough to be in the boat I want to be in and also get a solid winter’s training so when we do race the rest of the world we are in better shape than they are.”

Thornley was part of the double scull crew – along with Olympic champion Katherine Grainger – that finished sixth at the recent World Championships.

And while they missed out on a medal the duo did manage to secure Great Britain a place in that event at Rio 2016.

“It was a mixed season in terms of the summer racing,” she added. “We won some medals in terms of the World Cup and the Europeans."

“We missed out on the podium in the World Champs but we were in the final and qualified a boat for Rio and that was the main objective. I would have liked to have been on the podium but it’s all about the Olympics. "

“A consistent winters training is key to build up fitness. In a year you are not going to make massive gains but you are going to make the gains you need to step on the crews who beat us there. I also need to make sure I am ready to perform when I’m called upon.”

As Leander Club launched their ‘Row to Rio’ campaign Vicky Thornley spoke of Leander’s place as the most successful rowing club in the world, with 111 Olympic medals won by its members.