Great Marlow School’s Boat Club (GMSBC) made their mark on the history books after becoming the first state school to win the Shawcross Cup.

The National Schools Regatta and Junior Regatta took place at Dorney and saw over 500 crews from schools and rowing clubs across the country compete.

While GMSBC had a number of teams taking part at the event, head coach Fergus Murison saved particular praise for the history making J16 boys crew.

“For the school boat club to achieve the gold medal in the J16 first eight race is a great accolade and every member of that crew thoroughly deserves the success,” he said.

“The National Schools Regatta is always the highlight of the junior rowing calendar and I am immensely proud of every crew that represented Great Marlow School Boat Club.”

GMSBC were up against stern competition throughout the event as they took part in an impressive 18 races across the J14 to J18 age groups.

A number of teams achieved personal bests over the four day competition but the J16 crew undoubtedly stole the show with their showing.

The school came into the event among the favourites for the title and did not disappoint as they set about advancing to the final of the eight A category.

The semi-final saw them produce a disciplined row to out-think and out-race their opponents who set off at a furious pace they were unable to maintain.

GMSBC’s controlled start allowed them to keep an even speed and move away from the chasing pack to secure safe passage to the final.

A slow start in the tournament decider left the school’s eight some way back after 250m and with work to do heading into the latter stages of the race.

By halfway GMSBC were beginning to move to the head of the race though, and an excellent final 500m saw them take the lead and secure their gold medal by a comfortable margin.

The J16 side’s success did not end with the Shawcross Cup triumph and they won a further gold in the quad sculls.

Meanwhile, the WJ14 girls were also in good form and a strong display in the coxed quad earned them a bronze medal, on a day which attracted a vocal Marlow fan base.

Murison said: “I would like to acknowledge the tremendous support that we had from parents, governors and 45 budding and new rowers from Year 7 and Year 8 who joined us to swell support.”

There were also notable performances from the school’s Year 9 girls who finished eighth in their octo event.

Meanwhile, the Year 10 boys produced a stunning row to turn around a 10 second deficit and finish fifth in their race.