Mark Scott

The son of a Bournemouth doctor, Mark Scott was born and brought up in Dorset, but spent his holidays at Shiplake, alongside the River Thames, and so was born his love of rowing. Upon going to Bryanston School, he rowed for the school, and became captain of boats. He left school at 18 and joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), and it was while on active service in Sicily that Scott was badly wounded following the explosion of a mortar bomb. He lost the sight in one eye, with the other being severely damaged. He also felt the effects of shrapnel, a lot of which remained in his body throughout his life. Despite a long spell of hospitalisation in North Africa, he resumed duties with the RNVR before the War was over.

After the hostilities, Scott read architecture at the North London Polytechnic and at the same time joined the Thames Rowing Club. Two years later, following a successful Henley Royal Regatta, he was drafted into the Olympic squad and selected for the coxed pairs with Howard James and cox David Walker. After the Olympics, Mark Scott told Alan Shrimpton, a former master at Bryanston School, that he and James rowed without a rudder at the Games, deliberately sawing it off so as not to let the young 16-year-old cox hinder them by not steering correctly. The rules said they had to row with a cox, but did not mention a rudder!

In later life Scott was involved in local politics, serving on both the Sonning Parish Council and Wokingham Rural District Council. He was also chairman of the Sonning Working Men’s Club for 18 years.