Olympic athletes are set to support the efforts of Marlow students in raising thousands for their rowing club.

Parents and students at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School’s boat club are aiming to raise £10,000 towards new boats by rowing from dawn until dusk on Sunday, December 13.

Up to 100 young rowers will descend on Platts of Marlow, on Oxford Road – where staff will clear out the showroom to make way for 12 rowing machines.

Teams will take it in turns to row from 8am until 4pm on the shortest day of the year and 2012 Olympic medallists Ric Egington, Alex Gregory and Alex Partridge will be there to show their support.

Chairman of the Borlase boat club support group, James Biggs, said he is hopeful they will raise the money needed, although deemed the £10,000 target as ambitious.

He said: “Every two years we will run a rowathon to raise money for the Borlase rowing support group.

“The School is the third lowest funded school in the country which means that every penny in the budget given by the government is to be spent on the curriculum.

“We have to raise cash for new boats. Watching the kids struggle with their mildew covered boats compared with the gleaming new boats that privately funded schools are able to afford is difficult."

In 2015 the club rowed an astonishing 1 million metres for the cause– the equivalent distance to Munich – and this year they are aiming to thrash that success..

Starbucks will be providing coffee throughout the course of the day and 10% percent of the money raised will be donated to Helen Douglas House.