INTERNATIONAL rower Ben Smissen was forced to miss the Great Britain Spring Assessment Trials at Nottingham over the Easter weekend because of a back injury.

But 17-year-old Smissen, from Deal, is optimistic he will be fit to row for Britain in the Munich Regatta early in May.

Smissen has already been selected for the under-18 pairs event in Germany along with Tom Lucy (Monmouth College).

He said: "The GB physios are pretty confident that I will be OK for Munich. At first they thought I had a bulging disc in my back, but now they think it’s just a bit of muscle damage."

Smissen has been in London for treatment at the GB Olympic Rehabilitation Centre, and among the physiotherapists helping him is Lady Ann Redgrave, wife of five-times Olympic rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave.