Greg Searle, on the brink of making an Olympic rowing return at the age of 40 – and 20 years after he and his brother Jonny won gold in the coxed pairs at the Barcelona Games – is old and wise enough to know that his participation in the home Games at an age when most men are slowing down rather than speeding up is likely provoke a flood of emotion.

Searle, who quit Olympic rowing after the bitter disappointment of finishing fourth in the coxless pairs at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, decided to make a comeback just three years ago, and as he looked ahead to the eight's imminent competition at Eton Dorney, he admitted: "I expect there will be a lump in my throat and probably tears in my eyes."

Having raised a family and started a business during almost a decade away from the sport, Searle was drawn back into the Olympic orbit by the prospect of a home Games, and his new course was set following a conversation he had with the British men's head coach, Jürgen Grobler, at the Boston trials early in 2009.

"It has been fantastic story and I have loved every day of it," Searle said. "I remember the first day when I was up at the trials in Boston, Lincolnshire, and sitting down with Jürgen and him asking me whether I was sure I wanted to row or if I wanted to coach.

Greg Searle (left) claims gold at Barcelona 1992

"But to actually come all this way and to now be here wearing the GB team kit – we've just had a great induction into the [Olympic] Village with Clive Woodward and his team – is just fantastic and the reality is beginning to sink in.

"I think the next stage for us will be going rowing on the lake at Dorney with those seats full of 30,000 people.

"That's always a massive moment at the Games, when you go from it being a lake which you have trained on, and we know it well, to seeing all those people there and I expect there will be a lump in my throat and probably tears in my eyes when I know that I am really here at the Games to compete.

"When I spoke to Jürgen in 2009 he said to me: 'You weren't too young to win a gold at 20, and you won't be too old to win a gold at 40. It will be purely based on performance.

"Within our sport everyone understands that's the way it is. I think I have been totally treated equally by the coaches and other athletes. As far as the athletes are concerned, we might listen to different music and might have a different sense of humour, but I have been in work in certain situations and it makes no difference whether someone you work with is 20 years younger than you or 20 years older, if they do a good job they are someone you want to be in a team with.

"I think I've put in performances on the water, and in the work we do on the land, which has benefited the rest of the team.

Greg Searle (right) shows his disappointment at Sydney 2000

"In terms of my self-belief, I have always been sure I was capable of making the team, I didn't know how good I would be as we came to the Olympic Games.  I'm hugely confident in the crew I'm in, I feel really privileged to be working with such talented people, and I will know how good we can be when we race on August 1."

Asked to compare his 2012 Olympic experience with that of 1992, he responded: "It feels the same and it feels massively different.

"The stuff on the water – training, competition – is really similar. But the whole experience of it in my head is wildly different.

"The first time I came to the Games I was young, totally enthusiastic, totally bullet-proof I would say. I'd never lost a race, and I just expected the Olympics to be another race – and it was just another race.

"I had very little else in my life except for rowing. Since then I have had a lot of interesting life experiences, and I am more rounded as a person, with a lot of other things I count as incredibly important, just as important as rowing in many ways. So I see it in a different and exciting way coming into the Games now."

On the subject of maintaining a relationship while pursuing elite Olympic ambitions – and with reference to a recent Mail on Sunday interview with Searle's wife, Jenny – Searle said: "It's difficult when you are overseas for 100 days a year – that's a kind of challenge to a relationship. But I guess I was a bit surprised by the article – more to the point my wife was – after having what she thought was a really nice couple of hours with a very nice lady, having a great conversation with her, they laughed for hours, and then seeing the way it turned out wasn't quite, er, a true reflection of how happy and proud of me she was!"

Searle believes his break from the sport has worked in his favour.

Greg Searle (right) is preparing for a second Olympic gold at the age of 40

"I'd say it was a massive advantage," he said. "Every day I go into training and no matter what's on the programme I get stuck into it and enjoy it, and I think it's a real privilege to be an athlete in Team GB now.

"I think I'm not in any way weary of it. I also think there's a difference in preparing for the Games as a 20-year-old and as a 40-year-old.

"As a 20-year-old I was missing out on lots of stuff, there was lots of fun stuff that I wasn't doing.

"As a 40-year-old I think I've got a pretty good lifestyle and I get to be an athlete on Team GB. Most of the other dads at the school gate have to put on ties and go into the City. I don't have to do that. So this is a very special opportunity and I want to take it and enjoy it.

"I think we are in the right place. We have had a really good last six weeks. In the first race we did we put together a good first half and couldn't keep it going. In the second race we came to 1,500 metres and couldn't quite turn the screw in the last 500. We need to put our whole race together now and we need to put ourselves in the position where in the last 500 metres we are there to win the race.

"I know the competition is going to be tough. There are a smaller number of boats at the Olympic Games, and they all are going to be very good. But I think we are ready to produce our best when it matters. I think we couldn't be better prepared for it – now it's time to go and deliver."

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames.