TWO King's School pupils powered their way into the record books at the World Junior Championships.

Nick Fearnhead and Will Orchard were part of the Great Britain eight crew that finished fourth in Amsterdam.

On their way to the 'A' final they were given the unenviable task of facing the USA, Germany, hosts Holland and Lithuania in the first heat. But not only did they cross the line in first place, they did it in a course-record time of 5mins 38.62secs.

Nick and Will then booked a place in the final by finishing third behind Germany and Romania in the semis.

Nick's mum, Lynn, said: 'It was a flawless performance in the heats and they were deservedly proud of themselves. 'They were stunned to knock 16 seconds off the record.

'The conditions were a bit different in the final, but that's rowing. To finish fourth was outstanding and it was a breathtaking race. They were just three seconds behind Italy in third.'

Nick and Will featured in King's silver and bronze medal successes at the National Schools Championships, before helping the Chester school's eight boat to the finals of the Princess Elizabeth Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta.

Will is to take over from Nick as Captain of Boats at King's as Nick has left to begin an engineering degree at the University of Durham, whose rowing squad is one of the best in the country.

Nick's choice of course means he follows in the footsteps of another former King's pupil, Tom James.

James, who chose to study engineering at Trinity College Cambridge after leaving King's, represented Great Britain at the last Olympics.

And Nick's mum Lynn reckons her son has the ideal role model in James.

She said: 'It would be great if he could follow his conquests. 'Tom was at King's when Nick was younger, and he looked up to him then and still does now.'