Eton Excelsior unveil 'Winner's Wall' documenting achievements of club's rowers

World Champion and Olympian, Ollie Cook, Andrew Try (Chairman of the Windsor Royal Flower Show and HRH King Charles’s Lord Lieutenant of the royal borough of Berkshire) and myself, James Marshall Captain of Eton Excelsior Rowing Club. Photo Credit Rebecca Bennett Drahota

--

Eton Excelsior Rowing Club have unveiled a 'Winners Wall' at their clubhouse, documenting the achievements of the club's former Olympians, Team GB athletes and Henley Royal Regatta champions.

World champion rower and Olympian Ollie Cook was present for the unveiling of the wall in April which documents the impressive and varied achievements of rowers from the club.

Ollie took up rowing at Eton Excelsior as a junior when he was just 12 years old and blossomed into one of this country's best young rowers, competing for Team GB on several occasions at the highest levels.

He went on to represent his country at both junior and u23s level before progressing into the senior British Rowing squad in 2012, winning gold in the men's coxed pair at the 2016 World Championships.

In 2017, Ollie and his brother Jamie were part of the winning Blue Boat crew in the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race on the Thames before Ollie returned to full-time training with Great Britain. He was in the bow seat of the men's eight at the World Cup III in Lucerne and rowed in the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton.

He went on to represent Great Britain again in the Tokyo Olympics when the men's four were just pipped for a place on the podium as they finished fourth. After winning gold competing in the World Rowing Coastal Championships in 2022, he announced his retirement from the sport just last year.

Matilda Horn also features on the club’s winners’ wall. She started rowing at Eton Excelsior when her dad coached the club's successful junior programme.

During her degree at St Mary's University in Twickenham, she rowed with the London Boat Club and took up coxing following a back injury.

She also coached the u23s women's four and eight crews at the 2016 World Championships and in the same year, coxed the GB women's B eight at the Henley Regatta.

She then coxed a new-look eight to silver and bronze medals at the World Rowing Cups two and three and guided the boat to a fifth-place finish at the World Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton.

She continued to cox her team to success with silver medals following in the 2018 and 2019 European Championships and in Tokyo 2020 she coxed the women's eight to the repechage round. She is now the assistant coach at Cambridge University Boat Club and helped them to their recent victory over Oxford over Easter.

Eton Excelsior is a local volunteer-run community rowing club that was established back in 1826. The club caters to a diverse range of rowers, from absolute beginners to those competing at an international level.

The club runs an experienced adult program, the Great Britain u23s training centre and a rapidly growing junior programme for both Eton Excelsior and Windsor Girls School.

The club is once again rising to be a force in the regional rowing community and, for the first time in many years. they will be sending multiple crews to both the women's Henley and Henley Masters events in 2024.

Anyone from the local community is welcome to come along and see what the club has to offer and what it is all about.

While the original clubhouse was in Eton, the club is not affiliated with its famous neighbour, Eton College.

For more information visit www.etonexcelsiorrowingclub.org