Olympic silver medallist Debbie Flood is backing former team-mate Katherine Grainger - the most successful British female rower in history - to break the mould and achieve solo success on the water.

Grainger has three Olympic silver medals to her name - two in the quad and one in the pair.

At 33, London 2012 will represent Granger's last chance at capturing the gold that has eluded her to date, and the Scot has made the decision to fly solo in the single scull in 2009.

Grainger has never competed in the single scull internationally and no female Brit has competed in the Olympic singles event since 1996.

But Flood - who joined Grainger, Frances Houghton and Annie Vernon in the 2008 Olympic quad that finished second - believes her former crew-mate will spring a few surprises at the first World Cup meeting of the season in Banyoles on May 29.

"Katherine is the most successful women in British rowing and the post-Olympic year is the year to try things out to see how it works," said Flood - who is currently mulling over her rowing future.

"No female has done the singles for a long time so it is not usual for someone to go to the singles but if she wants to there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

"She wants to see where she stands with the rest of the world how well she does will determine where she goes from there.

"Katherine is the strongest woman in the team at the moment and this is the year to try different things out."