The Coleraine man and his brother came in second place in the lightweight fours final in last month's games, but he has not been in a boat since and is back home to tell more about his Olympic success.

"What people normally see is the six minutes of racing on TV and the razzmatazz of the Olympics, but it's given us a good opportunity to tell people about all the hard work that goes into being at the Olympics and being an Olympic silver medallist," he explained.

The training schedule for an Olympic rower is gruelling, but the 27-year-old told UTV there is something special about being out on the water for sunrise, and although it is hard work - as fellow NI rower and bronze medallist Alan Campbell showed when he broke down in tears after his race - it is their determination that pulls rowers through.

I think Peter and I will be aiming for that gold medal in four years time.

Richard Chambers

"Whenever it comes to the racing, I think an athlete is going to do whatever they can to cross the finish line first, and what Alan showed and what the rest of us showed at the Olympics was that people will chuck the kitchen sink at it to win the Olympic gold medal."

And although the Chambers brothers came home with silver, Richard said they were disappointed but will learn lessons from their performance.

"We don't spend four years training for second place, so this year we were a bit gutted with it but we are happy with our silver medal. We are enjoying it, but every time we look at it we think how we can go one better.

"We will learn from London and see how we can do it better and what we did well and take that to Rio.

"A lot can happen in four years but if it ends up winning a medal or not winning a medal then all we can do is our best and everything we possibly can."