There was a golden moment for our IT team recently when gold medal winner Faye Rogers popped to the office to see her proud dad.
Faye, 21, visited her father, Chris, and his colleagues at Seafield House in Redcar wearing her gold medal she won in the 100 metre Butterfly event at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
Passing around her precious gold medal round the team she took the time to chat to everyone about her experiences since she won gold.
“I’m so proud of her,” smiled Chris, Project Lead in IT, “and it’s great she’s in Redcar right by the Leisure Pool – it’s where she had some of her very first competitive performances when she was just ten years old. Now she’s a gold medallist as well as World Champion and European record holder. It’s amazing.”
Faye, from Ingleby Barwick who is studying biochemistry at Aberdeen University and is planning a postgrad degree in medicine, said her life had been a “whirlwind” since coming home.
“It’s been crazy,” laughed Faye, who trains in the pool 18 hours a week and works out in the gym a further six hours. “I’ve been interviewed on TV and all kinds of media, gone to all kinds of events, gone to my old school to talk to the children and I’m going to meet the First Minister of Scotland.
“The only problem is how heavy the medal is. Last night I was at an event in Birmingham to thank the National Lottery for support and wore it for three hours. I was thinking, ‘why am I so sore?’ Then I realised it was the medal – I was thinking I won’t be able to race again if I wear this too much!”
Faye answered questions from the team and explained the medal itself contains some metal from the actual Eiffel Tower itself. “It has a design that’s meant to be like you’re under the Tower looking up the middle of the tower.”
She explained that she had previously competed in Olympic trails in 2021but later was involved in a car accident – on the day she was due to move to Aberdeen University – and severely damaged her arm. Now she’s focused on her study but also on competing in the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
But for now she’s enjoying the moment. “Come on, I’ll take you for a lemon top,” said Chris as the visit came to an end. “A lemon top in Redcar? Beats any medal!,” laughed Faye. And with that a very proud father and daughter said goodbye to the team and headed to Pacittos.