On Sunday 13th February, three fencers from Great Yarmouth and Waveney Fencing Club took part in the Norfolk County Junior Foil Championships, held in Loddon. This was Aiden Greysmark's and Ethan Stretton's first time fencing in a competition, so both felt a mixture of nerves and excitement, Ethan was so excited for it he was to first person to arrive that day. As well as being their first time, it would also be Robert Johnson's last time of being able to enter this competition, as next year he would be too old.
Robert, taking part in the U18's was first to fence in a poule round and had a relatively successful time; despite having a technical difficulty with his wire at one point which required changing half way through a match, he was able to win all but one of his matches, ranking him in 2nd place. Ethan, taking part in the U12's, was next to fence, and in his first match he was able to score his first point; however he was able to win his second match 5 - 1. Overall Ethan was ranked 2nd in his age group. The final member to fence was Aiden, taking part in the U16's, during the course of his poule round he was able to score numerous points, however was unlucky many a time when his hits were just short of registering, overall Aiden was ranked 9th.
After a short rest break, the Direct Elimination rounds began, with Ethan fencing first; he was in the Semi-Finals against Daniel from Esquive fencing club. Both fencers battled extremely well with the match having the possibility of going either way, however in the end Ethan was defeated by his more experienced opponent, with a score of 6 - 10. This result gained Ethan 3rd place in his age group and a bronze medal for his achievement; the club coaches are extremely proud of Ethan and his accomplishment, especially as he has only been fencing for 3 months.
Next to fence was Aiden in the 8th/9th place direct elimination match for his age group. Aiden's opponent was able to gain an early lead, with the score after the first bout of 3 minutes, being 1 - 4 to his opponent. During the minute break, Aiden was given some advice, by the club coach, which he successfully took on board. By using his time wisely and going for the attack when he was presented with an opening, Aiden was able to even the score to 8 - 8 at the end of the third bout. This meant they would have to fence for one more minute, with the next person to score a hit winning the match, to ensure a winner a pen was spun, which unfortunately for Aiden gave his opponent priority, meaning that if no hit was scored, his opponent would be given the victory. During this minute, Aiden was unable to score the hit, so his opponent won by default, leaving Aiden with 9th place.
Last to fence a direct elimination round was Robert in the Under 18's. His first match was a Semi-Final against Matt. Robert like Aiden was able to use the time to his advantage, taking an early lead of 4 - 1 by the end of the first bout. The second bout allowed Robert to extend his lead even further, taking the score up to 14 - 4. The third and final bout was over quickly when Robert double lunged down the length of the piste, forcing Matt to leave the end of the piste, forfeiting a point and giving Robert the victory. Robert was now in the Final against Luke Harrison, his long term adversary, the match got off to a slow start, with only one point being scored by Luke after the first three minutes. In the second round, Robert attempted to take the lead, after equalising the score to 1 - 1, unfortunately for him Luke had found away to penetrate his defences and gain a strong lead of 12 - 1. In the third bout, Robert was able to begin countering Luke's attacks, but it was too late for him to be able to win the match, with the final score being 15 - 3 to Luke. As a result, Robert walked away with 2nd place and a Silver medal.
The club is extremely proud of Ethan, Aiden and Robert and wishes them success for the future, something which seems likely to occur if they continue to maintain their current levels of ability and strive to improve it even further.
