Bradford Grammar School pupils will be leading the way at this year’s Lord Mayor’s Parade in London to mark the appointment of a former student to the civic role.

More than 40 staff, current and former pupils at the school will travel to London for the event, which will see its first eight rowing team appear on a float close to the front of the procession.

The new Lord Mayor of London David Wootton’s life-long love of the sport started while he was a pupil at Bradford Grammar School and the team, who this year broke the 24-hour indoor rowing world record, will row on ergometers during the parade, which will be held on Saturday, November 12.

Other pupils taking part in the event, which has ‘Fit for Life’ as its theme, include Abby Mae Parkinson, a UK Schools Cycling champion, and Sian Morgan, who represented Wales at last year’s Commonwealth Games.

Former pupils involved include long distance runner Richard Nerurkar MBE, who came fifth in the marathon at the 1996 Olympics and recorded the third-fastest time of a British athlete in the 1997 London Marathon.

Boris Rankov, another former pupil, who led Oxford University to victory in the Boat Race six times between 1978 and 1983, will also be at the event, as will the school’s director of sport Charles Lines, who came third in the UK Ironman contest.

Headmaster Stephen Davidson said: “We feel privileged to be taking part in one of the country’s most historic occasions.”

The procession, which will be broadcast on television, starts at 11am.

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