ROWING siblings Tom and Emily Ford are shaping up nicely for another crack at the Olympic Games.

With more medals won at the latest World Rowing Cup meet, the pair - both former pupils at The Grange School in Hartford - and their crewmates are in fine form ahead of this summer’s Games in Paris.

Tom was part of the men’s eight crew that shook off a shock result in the heats in which they finished second behind the USA while still progressing to the final.

However, they recovered to win gold in Sunday’s final – one of five Great Britain managed to win in Lucerne to finish second in the medal table behind the Netherlands – as they pipped the American crew by just 0.2 seconds.

He was joined in the men’s eight boat by regular crewmates Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Jacob Dawson, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin and cox Harry Brightmore.

“I feel pretty tired but that was a really good race for us,” Rudkin said after the medal ceremony.

“Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face and the USA really punched us in the face on Friday.

“We had our backs against the wall there and turned it around to pull out a race like that today.

“You train hard to race, we relish racing, we love it, it’s why we do the sport.”

Emily was again part of the women’s eight crew that brought home a silver medal after an epic dual with Canada.

She and crewmates Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Hattie Taylor, Annie Campbell-Orde and cox Henry Fieldman led from the start, only to be pipped in the final strokes by a charging Canadian boat.

“I think we’ve stepped on a lot in the last few days,” Long said.

“What we did really well was we executed what we wanted to do, so if we have a plan for the next eight weeks I think we can really build and be in the mix at the Games.”

Northwich Guardian: Emily Ford and the women's eight crew with their silver medalsEmily Ford and the women's eight crew with their silver medals (Image: Benedict Tufnell for British Rowing)