STAFF, volunteers and rowers who remember Paris 2024 Olympic Games medal winners Tom and Emily Ford from their days at The Grange School in Hartford have been sharing their memories.

Tom, 31, won gold in the men’s eight and Emily, 29, secured bronze in the women’s eight within 20 minutes of each other on the final day of the Olympic Regatta.

Not since 1908 had a brother and sister taken medals at the same Olympics.

The former Grange School students from Holmes Chapel also made history by becoming the first brother and sister to represent Team GB in two Olympics, with the pair having made their debuts in the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Jean Perchard, Grange School Rowing Club coach, recalls the first time she met Emily when Graham Jump - then head of rowing for GSRC - brought her down to the river one evening, before the rest of her year group started.

He had high hopes for her as Tom and her elder twin brothers were ‘showing a bit of talent’.

“So, I boated a very scared and shy 13-year-old Emily, in our most stable single, who was gripping onto my arm as I tried to push her off the bank,” said Jean.

“Some gentle coaching on the basics followed. She stayed upright and dry but was non-committal as to whether she liked it, although she came back the next week.”

Jean added: “Her first ‘race’ was in the Ball Cup. She raced in the single final against Jessica Layden, (HLRC) NW, another future GB rower who became world junior champion.

“The first time they raced, they crashed, so the race was restarted, and Jess narrowly won.”

Heidi Hackett, German teacher, British Rowing umpire and chair of the North West Rowing Council, pointed out that Tom did some of his studies alongside another future Olympian, Will Broderick.

She said: “Tom sat with Will Broderick in my lessons and now both have been to two Olympics which is quite incredible - Will as coach for Brazil’s women’s rugby team.

“Following on from knowing Tom and Emily at school, I have had the pleasure of umpiring them both - Emily in her winning W1x race at Henley Women’s Regatta and Tom at the European Championships this year.

“I still wear a school scarf designed by Emily when umpiring at the National Schools’ Regatta and Tom still runs sentences in German past me whenever we meet at international events.”

Rachel Hooper, head of Grange rowing from 2019 to 2021, highlighted how Emily laid a path for other girls and women to follow and spoke about their connection to Northwich rowing legend Matt Langridge, who won bronze, silver and gold medals in the men’s eight over four Oylmpiad.

“Emily worked hard to achieve a lot of firsts for the women at the club, including going to the Youth Olympics in Sydney,” said Rachel.

“Tom loved being part of the club and progressed to race at Henley.

“They’ve always been really proud of their roots and come back to the school when they can.

“They are both very grateful to have been coached by Paul Rafferty from Northwich Rowing Club, who also notably coached Matt Langridge.”

Beth Laidlaw was a fellow rower at the school with Emily.

“I suppose, the thing about Em is she never took herself too seriously,” said Beth.

“She always put the team first, she made everyone laugh and she ensured that the club was a place that everyone could be themselves and enjoy rowing.”

Gareth Ireland, GSRC director of rowing, concluded: “Tom and Emily's success has inspired our current cohort to believe that they can aim for and achieve great things if they commit themselves fully.

“We can’t wait to see them come back and visit us with their medals!”