BEWDLEY Olympian Alison Young is set to step up her preparations for the Rio 2016 Games after being selected for the test event.

With just over a year to go until the sporting extravaganza in Brazil, British Sailing have announced selected team members for the Olympic Test Event to be held this summer on Guanabara Bay.

The Aquece Rio International Regatta, which is held between August 15 and 22, is the second official Test tournament for the sport of sailing, and will see 15 of the country's best sailors compete against their international rivals.

With just one boat per nation, per class permitted to enter, the regatta replicates Olympic-style racing at the Games venue, and is a crucial opportunity to prepare for the main event.

Young has been selected for the Laser Radial event after a series of strong performances over the last year in the ISAF World Cup.

Until recently, she topped the rankings and is now only just second behind Belguin's Evi van Acker.

She was second at the Princess Sofia Regatta and first Rio test event in 2014, as well as winning the Sail World Cup in Melbourne.

Young was also fourth in the Portland and Weymouth regatta last week.

RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park remarked that this summer’s event marks an important milestone in the team’s preparations towards Olympic success in one year's time.

He said: “With just over a year to go to the Rio 2016 Games, the British Sailing Team, like many other teams, is really starting to focus on who the key contenders are likely to be in the hunt for Olympic medals next year.

“The 2015 Rio Test Event is an important marker in that journey towards the Games. It provides a valuable opportunity to experience quality racing on the Olympic waters, in the Olympic format, and allows the wider team the chance to build their understanding of the key performance factors in what is a challenging venue both on and off the water.

“For the British Sailing Team it’s about building on our collective experiences of the venue so far, but also providing the sailors with the best platform and support possible to allow them to perform at their best and gain confidence that they can deliver results in that challenging environment.

“We’re in a good place as a team but there’s no doubt there’s a lot of hard work still to go towards Rio 2016, and our sailors are going to have to keep pushing every single day.”