An Olympic gold medal-winning rower missed out on the chance to publicise his new series of books after being held up by a storm in Bermuda last week.

Rory Gibbs, who won gold as part of the Great Britain eight at the Olympic Games in Paris last year, was scheduled to speak about his new series of children's books on Saturday.

However the 30-year-old, who retired from competitive rowing after the Olympics, was stranded on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean after a storm prevented it from docking in Bermuda, where Gibbs was due to disembark and catch a flight back to England.

Gibbs, speaking to BBC Radio Surrey, outlined his disappointment at missing the World Book Day event arranged for children in the south of England.

“The cruise has been good, although I can't say the last week has been too much fun travelling across the North Atlantic Ocean,” he said.

Gibbs has produced a string of children’s books called Lumo’s Dream Team, which he hopes will help youngsters to realise that it is not where you start but how you finish that is important.

“It’s set on a fantastical planet where a bunch of school friends get special abilities and powers,” he said.

“The catch is they're just kids, so they don't yet have the values or the soft skills to apply them, like teamwork, leadership, confidence, respect and kindness.

“It all stems from my experience in sport. You don’t have to start out as the fastest and the strongest.”