Britain's most successful female rower Katherine Grainger is attempting go one better in Beijing this year and improve on her pair of Olympic silvers medals.

The Scot insists that if she ends on top of the podium in what will be her third Olympics, it will be down to her golden days at Edinburgh University.

The 32-year-old has a remarkable sporting CV, which boasts two Olympic silvers, five World Championship medals and three World Cup victories.

Her academic pedigree is equally impressive and includes a law degree from Edinburgh University, a masters in medical law from Glasgow University and a current part-time PhD at King's College London.

But it was her time at Edinburgh University which led to a blossoming rowing career, after an enthusiastic student encouraged her to enrol in the sport at a 'freshers' fair'.

"I didn't go to university to row, I went to get a degree, but in the end I competed for Edinburgh at British University Sports Association competitions and it was very much the early learning ground for what would end up being my career," said Grainger.

"I was incredibly proud to be selected to compete for the university, but was also unbelievably nervous at the scale of the event.

"Student sport can be such a crucial time in any athlete's life - for me it was where I learned and developed the skills that I now use on an international stage."

To have the opportunity to learn such skills is something Grainger hopes current students will acquire at the first ever British University Championships (BUC), to be held in Sheffield from March 13-16.

"Both the training and studying kept me mentally fresh and physically alive," added the oarswoman.

"BUSA was a great building block for me - a chance to practise and improve and compete at a great level, which hopefully the British University Championships will also provide.

"There was so much encouragement and the people were just fantastic, I learned to truly love sport in every way at university and it also helped to create the competitive drive so necessary at top level sport.

"With major international competitions in Britain in the next few years, people at university can use university events like BUC as steps on the way to their big goals."

Grainger has Olympic silvers in the quadruple sculls (2000) and the pair (2004) and she will be returning to the four-woman sculls in an attempt to win gold in Beijing.

Despite the pressure of rising expectation Grainger remains confident.

"There is always pressure on us - we are currently reigning world champions and will therefore go in as one of the favourites for Beijing," she added.

"It is a huge pressure to feel a country's expectations on your shoulders, but to be honest the pressure we put upon ourselves is even greater. We train and compete at the highest standard and rely on each other and our coach to constantly raise that level.

"We know that we have incredible financial, medical, scientific, psychological, nutritional, etc support in this country and we are part of a huge network who all work to get us to the start line in the best shape we can be in.

"After that it's up to us, and that's pressure, but that's also the amazing and exciting part."

Eurosport