Nick Stiles belongs to one of the best junior crews in the world.

He helped the British eight finish tenth at the World Junior Championships in Spain, despite illness, searing temperatures and lack of race practice.

His team finished seven seconds behind winners Romania over the 2,000m course that was used for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Stiles, from Brighton, said: "All things considered it was a decent performance. We didn't really have long to prepare - we needed an extra week - and hadn't done much racing.

"The final was at 12.30pm when the temperature was around 35 degrees. It really was a case of mad dogs and Englishmen going out in the midday sun."

The crew reached the final after qualifying for the semi-final via a repechage.

He said: "We struggled to get through and made the best of the job in the final when we were without our two most important rowers (Tom Winterton at stroke and Jonny Watkin at No.7) because of illness.

"I'm not sure if we would have won a medal, even if everything had been right.

"There were some good crews on the water. We looked at the Russians and they seemed a foot taller and a foot wider.

"There were 13 countries racing in our event and I believe we were more than credible performers. The standard was high and we were only separated from second place by three seconds."

Stiles was satisfied with his own displays at No.5 in the boat.

The 13st, 6ft.4in rower said: "The middle four have to provide the power and I feel I did my bit."

It was the toughest competition Stiles, 17, has faced in four years of rowing and he got a real taste of the physical and mental preparation required to reach the top.

He said: 'The regime is tough. I was in the gym twice a day working out on rowing machines, either at the David Lloyd Club at Brighton Marina, or at my school in the west country.

"I went with the British crew to Chester for long-distance rowing to build up stamina.

"It was taken very seriously. We were weighed after every session to see if we were re-hydrating okay. Then we went to a lake in Eton to build up speed.

"We were up at 7.15am every day for about three weeks and had to go to bed early every night.

"A lot of my friends had parties after finishing A levels but I couldn't have one."

Stiles, a former pupil at Mowden (Brighton), listened to pre-event motivational speeches from Olympic champions Jonny and Greg Searle.

He said: "The Searles told us about how they came back to win their gold when it looked hopeless in Barcelona."

Stiles impressed when eighth with fellow Radley College student Will Verril in the pairs at the recent Munich Regatta.

He has done well at the National Schools Championships where he won gold, silver and bronze medals in different age groups.

But despite success, Stiles is unsure about his rowing future.

He said: "The next level is under-23s for me and that is a big step."