Hammersmith Record Breaking Rower Wins Scholarship to Eton

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White City teenager Schuyler discovered talent at Fulham Reach Boat Club

A teenager from Shepherd's Bush who learned to row at Fulham Reach Boat Club has landed a scholarship at Eton College, and now plans to go on to Oxford or Cambridge University.

Schuyler Audley-Williams, 14, who grew up on the White City Estate, won the scholarship after beating two under-12 British records less than a year after taking to the water at Hammersmith for the first time.

Online rowing community AllMarkOne featured his inspiring story in a video, How Rowing Changed Schuyler’s Life, which went on to be shortlisted at the Charity Film Awards.

The video, stills from which can be seen above and below, can be viewed on YouTube.

It tells the story of how Schuyler went from home-schooling on a White City council estate after failing to pursuing a full scholarship at Eton College, and how rowing at Fulham Reach provided the vital stepping stone between the two.

When Schuyler missed out on all of his preferred state schools, his parents decided to home-school him after the only alternative he was offered was one deemed 'failing' by Ofsted.

He discovered his talent for rowing when his father, Harry, took him to the Fulham Reach Boat Club. The charity, based at the Fulham Reach development on Hammersmith's riverside aims to unlock the potential of young people through rowing by offering free lessons to local children.

This month Schuyler, who is now a boarder at Eton, told the Daily Telegraph: "I found out about rowing after my dad saw an advert for Fulham Reach Boat Club. I really didn’t know anything about rowing at that point.

“There wasn’t much diversity in the outreach for rowing. So it never seemed like something I would or could do. I think that’s because, coming from my background, there is not as much of an outreach for it

" I am so glad I found rowing. It has helped me massively in terms of focus and my confidence.

"It has also opened so many doors for me. I never expected to get anywhere like Eton - it wasn't even in the corner of my mind."

You can reach the full Telegraph feature here.

The club says on its website: "We continue to be blown away with the progress that Schuyler has made since sitting in a boat and this article will hopefully help spread the message that you can indeed unlock the potential of young people through rowing."

Fulham Reach Boat Club has now launched a new scheme that pairs up local schools with individual Oxford and Cambridge colleges in an effort to “demystify Oxbridge” and encourage more state school students to apply.

Burlington Danes Academy in White City and Trinity College Oxford are the first pair in the club’s new project.

Students aged 13 to 16 visit the College three times a year for residential weekends and day trips where they have are coached in rowing by Trinity students, get application advice from Oxford tutors and go on tours of the world famous campus.

Find out more about Fulham Reach Boat Club here.

 

March 15, 2019