Canberra rowers Caleb Antill and Luke Letcher strengthen Tokyo bid with Australian selection

Because it's about more than just winning a uniform, it's a chance for the rower to claim gold.

Letcher and fellow Canberran Caleb Antill have been named in the Australian team for the men's quadrupple scull, teaming up with Jack Cleary and Olympian Cameron Girdlestone.

But the final team for Tokyo is yet to be confirmed, with these selections to be announced by the Australian Olympic Committee in June.

The Canberran rowers will look to strengthen their bid to retain their spot at this week's Australian Rowing Championships at Lake Barrington, Tasmania.

Being on the verge of an Olympics berth has Letcher eager to make the most each competition, with the 26-year-old rower saying his sight's set on Tokyo success.

"The Olympics aren't necessarily the end goal, we want to go over there to try and win. You don't go over there to win a uniform," Letcher said.

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"Being there isn't necessarily the end in itself, but it will represent the combination of a lot of years of hard work and sacrifice in other areas of my life and time that could have gone into other things, that has gone into this pursuit."

Australia has already qualified eight boats for the rescheduled Olympic Games and are looking to qualify another four, including both the men's and women's lightweight double scull.

The men's quadrupple scull has been booked for Tokyo, with Letcher and Antill now focused on making the boat as fast as they can in the meantime.

The Canberra duo are excited to team up again after being crowned under-23s world champions in the quadruple scull in 2016.

Letcher missed out on last year's selection before the 2020 Games were postponed, but worked hard over the winter to put himself back in contention for Tokyo.

However Antill explained the rowers who were absent from trials with a medical exemption can still come back into the frame, saying it's important the crew focuses on the bigger picture - and that's making the boat fast for Tokyo.

"We're not sure if they're going to be better, they might come into contention later or whatever. It's important to put that out of our minds and just get down to work," Antill said.

"The best way for us to make sure we're in the quad is to make it go really fast. I'm looking forward to that challenge and I think we're all in the same head space about it going forward."

Antill will represent the ACT in the interstate single scull at nationals, as well as competing in the open's category for ANU and the quadrupple scull with the Australian team.

He'll come up against Letcher in the individual events, with the rower racing under the Black Mountain club banner.

"A regatta like this will be good to get into the atmosphere and have some races in different boat classes," Antill said.

"Any race experience is good experience, especially in a year when we're not going to have the real European competition that we usually go to. A lot of the preparation will be done here in Australia against other Australian crews.

"I'll be racing in the single, quad, as well as the interstate regatta at the end of the week. I narrowly beat Luke for that spot. I'm really excited to do that.

"I came second in 2019 so I'm looking forward to that race at the end of the week."

After nationals, the Australian team will fine tune their Tokyo preparations on home soil due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They'll have a simulation regatta in Penrith to mirror the World Cup meets, before having a training camp in Queensland.