BRITISH MAGAZINE JULY 2021

#SUPPORTINGTEAMMARCUS

- FOCUS ON MEPSTEAD - CELEBRATING KRUSE - OLYMPIC PREVIEW

WELCOME TO THE SWORD

4 NEWS 27 COMMUNITY UK Sport - New Strategy Club Spotlight

Member Bonus - BF Perks 29 EDUCATION The Making of UKC Fencing 6 FEATURES On Board 31 OBITUARIES Keith Smith Kruse - The Next Chapter Barbara Paul Road to Connie Adam The Mepstead Secret 35 #SUPPORTINGTEAMMARCUS “2020” Qualification Review

20 COMMUNITY Travel to Tokyo KRUSE INTERVIEW 21 FEATURE An Appointment with Dr Katz P8 23 DEVELOPMENT Supporting Mental Health

High Performance Coaches

Some of the images within this magazine were taken prior to Covid restrictions.

Editor: Safeguarding Hotline: Cover photo: Overseas airmail £26 - direct Karim Bashir, British Fencing Liz Behnke, Equality and Marcus Mepstead. from HQ. Contributions are 1 Baron’s Gate, Safeguarding Manager © Getty Images welcome. Photographs should 33–35 Rothschild Road, M: 07526 003030 include the names of those London W4 5HT British Fencing accepts no pictured and the photographer. T: 020 8742 3032 Typeset by: responsibility for the contents of E: [email protected] JS Typesetting Ltd advertisements and reserves the right Views expressed in The Sword T: 01656 788551 to refuse inclusion. do not necessarily reflect those Print: E: [email protected] of British Fencing. No part of the Cambrian Printers, The Sword, a quarterly magazine magazine may be reproduced Llanbadarn Fawr, Advertising: founded in 1948, is distributed to all without permission from the Aberystwyth, Karim Bashir individual and club members of British editor/photographer. Ceredigion, SY23 3TN M: 07855 252546 Fencing and its affiliates. It can also be T: 01970 613059 E: [email protected] obtained on subscription - UK £20. Next deadline: 6 August 2021

July 2021 | 3 THE SWORD UK SPORT - NEW STRATEGY News POWERING SUCCESS, INSPIRING IMPACT

UK Sport We know that most people in sport have the right standards and values to Integrity is the foundation upon which navigate the complexity of accelerating sport is built. Demonstrating conduct that human performance within a challenging, is honest and ethical; providing safe, fair supportive and nurturing environment. and inclusive environments; playing by the However, a system founded on the pursuit rules. These are things that help define of sporting excellence must also strive for sport and underpin its value to our society. excellence in integrity.

UK Sport’s new strategy sets out an In 2017, we took new steps to support unequivocal commitment to win with sports to enhance their high-performance integrity. The public wants us to keep culture and integrity. We established a winning but they want us to win the Culture Team to support National Governing right way. Ever-increasing athlete, sport will be exploring these ideas across the Bodies (NGBs) to further develop positive and public confidence in the way we win Sports Councils and our key partners and cultures in their high-performance is therefore essential to ensuring that stakeholders. programmes, led by a new annual Culture success creates a strong platform to reach, Health Check. We also established an inspire and unite the nation. We will develop these priorities in the Integrity Team to support NGBs to deliver coming months and reflect on them in their responsibilities to uphold the integrity Integrity is not just an issue for high- the context of the findings of the Whyte standards that they set within their sports. performance sport. Enhancing integrity Review, which is expected to report later in must be a whole-sport endeavour, and the year. This will be an important moment we will therefore be working closely with As we start the Paris 2024 cycle, this paper for us all in sport, and we want to listen to all the Sports Councils across the UK on sets out our future priorities for sport and understand its conclusions. Once that this. Our focus is principally on conduct- integrity, to help ensure that instances has taken place, we will set out a clear related issues, given the more established of unacceptable behaviour are as low as integrity strategy for the future. regulatory frameworks covering other possible and (when they do occur) that they integrity areas such as anti-doping, are dealt with swiftly and effectively. Summary safeguarding and match-fixing, however Working together, both as a high- we recognise the intersectionality that Our Priorities performance community and across all the often exists between these. UK Sport, alongside the other Sports Sports Councils, is essential if we are to Councils, is not a regulatory body and, protect the integrity of sport and continue Progress to Date therefore, has no legal power to oversee to grow a thriving sporting system. We will High-performance sport attracts the conduct of sporting organisations continue to develop the thinking around remarkable people working at the very and the people within them. However, these priorities, with a view to revisiting limits of human endeavour. The nation is as a leadership body in sport, and an them later in the year once the Whyte hugely proud of its athletes and coaches. investor of public money, we have a clear Review has reported, and then setting out They have excelled at recent Olympic and responsibility to do as much as we can a clear and ambitious strategy for integrity Paralympic Games and established the to influence and lead positive change. across the sporting system. UK amongst the world’s most successful We have identified four priority areas sporting countries. to enhance the integrity of sport and Read the full article here.

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July 2021 | 4 THE SWORD BF PERKS News NEW BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS Sophie DeVooght - Media and Communications Manager

Members of British Fencing can now learning providers. Over 92% of courses are save money and increase their wellbeing free. with BF Perks. Available for all valid BF members, BF Perks offers financial savings The most popular courses so far span at hundreds of retailers, as well as learning, a range of subjects from languages to wellbeing and fitness modules. computing, including a 4-week Sports Foundation Course, and an interesting Valid members can access BF Perks at course from the University of Glasgow: The no extra cost via a new tab within the Scottish Highland Clans: Origins, Decline membership platform. The financial and Transformation, about the Highland benefits for members are immediately clans and how clanship has changed Work - Are you working with fulfilment? apparent and the learning and wellbeing across hundreds of years. With hundreds Are your work relationships beneficial? sections have the ability to enhance all of courses to choose from, there is a Track your approach to work and areas of life, on and off the piste. broad range of courses to suit the diverse challenges. interests of BF members. LIFESTYLE SAVINGS Life - A look at your problem solving, self- MOVE Members can now save money on the care, social support structures and more. weekly shop, holiday bookings, insurance, The Move module includes video workouts computers, home improvements and more. that can be completed at home. Members Sleep - This path looks at your sleep habits, There are thousands of offers across can use Deskercise to stretch whilst whether you are feeling rested, and helps retailers with more offers added every working at their computer, increase core you manage your sleep schedule. week. strength with Pilates, or improve their flexibility with yoga sessions. Active - A popular path for BF members, There are different ways to save, depending this path tracks your exercise habits. on preferences. Prepaid gift cards and The Move module is a series of videos discount codes provide savings at the point that take you through the classes with Food - This path looks at eating for of sale online and in store, whilst cashback clear instruction and safety in mind. The nutrition, healthy habits and gives food offers add up to real cash in the bank. To workouts are suitable for all levels of ability for thought. Take a short assessment to save on groceries, members can buy a and members are able to take the sessions receive a tailored plan for healthy living. discounted gift card and top up to save at at their own pace. With new classes added the supermarket of their choice. regularly, there is always something new LIVE WELL BLOG to try. The Live Well Blog is packed with articles, Fencers can also save on actual garden recipes and thought-provoking ideas. fencing as well as home improvements, WELLBEING Discover the benefits of sea swimming or furniture, computers, gadgets and clothing BF Membership now offers a new way to read more about how to save the bees! with e-vouchers and promo codes across track and maintain your wellbeing. The thousands of offers. wellbeing module takes you through simple The blog is updated regularly, and members questions to help you monitor your sleep, can choose to receive the articles, as well LEARNING mood and more. Complete sets of short as new offers and info, directly to their BF Membership now opens up a host of questions to start your wellbeing path. email inbox when they first enter the BF learning opportunities for members to Discover breathing, sleep assistance and Perks area via the membership platform. increase their skills off the piste. Brush up meditation recordings as well as simple on languages and presentation skills or tasks to keep you on track. ACCESSING BF PERKS try something completely new. There are To access BF Perks, click on the ‘BF Perks’ hundreds of high-quality courses from top Each path is different, and members can tab within the membership platform. If your choose to track one or all of them. Start membership has lapsed, renew to access by choosing a path, complete a short the BF Perks tab. assessment and receive a tailored plan to help improve or maintain your progress. BF’s 90-day Introduction membership is Add a new path at any time to build a full free to new members and includes full picture of your wellbeing. access to BF Perks. Wellbeing Paths: Sign in or join to access BF Perks here. Mind - Feeling overwhelmed? Stuck in a Rut? Monitor your mood here. July 2021 | 5 THE SWORD ON BOARD Feature With Tommy Curran Jones

The Sword continues its latest I’ve been caught in riots in the middle of reached a Senior level, I wanted to bring an series of interviews with Jerusalem, had Bulgarian taxi drivers watch athlete’s voice on to the board. TV on their phones while they drive us to members of the Board. In the venue and been mistaken for Uzbek And what are you trying to achieve? this issue we talk to current Secret Service. But my personal favourite was a trip to Belarus for the U23 Euros. As a fencer at a high level I’ve always been fencing international, Tommy keen to ensure that British Fencing is doing Curran Jones. In a conversation with a local woman about what there was to do in Minsk she everything it can to develop its talent and informed me, “Nothing. Minsk is a city of give itself the best chance to get the great sadness.” After my performance in the results it is capable of. I also know that poules, I could only agree. the best way for British Fencing to achieve great results is by making the sport as open and inclusive as possible. It’s a brilliant How important is the Board and how much sport that not enough people get to try or should members be involved? feel like they could try. Anyone who cares about fencing should care about the board. There are the What is it like to be a Board member? practical things like making sure people are insured when they fence that are The role has connected me with the whole crucial if not exhilarating. But what excites of the sport in a way I never thought me most is that fencing, like all sports possible. The different weapons can be and all things really, is an ever-changing, quite insular at times, and at a club with ever-improvable thing that has to adapt only one on offer sabre and have to the world. If you think fencing can be always seemed a bit of a mystery to me. better, whether that means more inclusive, The board serves the whole of the sport more accessible or simply more exciting and I’ve come to love all the weapons even to watch, you care about the board. I if I do find priority a little confusing still. know how passionate people are about this sport and engaging with the board Without a traditional background in through voting or joining is a brilliant way business I certainly found it challenging at Tell us about your role. to channel that passion into making it the first to keep up with both acronyms and My name is Tommy Curran Jones and I’m best it can be. the minutiae of budgeting. The board is full a non-executive director on the Board of of people bringing different skills and I’ve British Fencing. That role involves ensuring How did you become a Board member? learned a lot from the wonderful people on that British Fencing (as a company) runs there. properly, setting the strategy for it and When I was a Junior fencer, I often felt like the board was a distant and unsympathetic ensuring those strategic aims are being Any final thoughts? met by the executive. body that only wanted to make my life harder. I helped set up and chaired the BF changes to become a better, more Youth Panel, a body that was created How did you get into fencing? inclusive sport every day. I’m incredibly to help the board better understand the excited to keep giving more people the I started fencing when I was ten. My school needs of young athletes competing at an chance to try something that’s brought me said I was too young to try it there. So I international level. I was so blown away so much joy. On a personal level I can’t wait found a coach who was trying to start by the receptiveness of everyone at BF to for the next competition, when it’s safe and a fencing club in Brixton. I was the first hearing the voices of athletes that when I’d legal to have one! member but over the last 15 years Brixton Fencing Club has grown into one of the biggest Epee clubs in the country. During that time I’ve fenced at every level from the Leon Paul Junior Series through to representing GB at World Cups and England at the Commonwealths.

You must have some interesting stories.

One of the undeniable pleasures of international fencing is the chance to travel to places you might never go to.

July 2021 | 6 July 2021 | 7 THE SWORD KRUSE - THE NEXT CHAPTER Feature …..A ‘KEEPER’ FOR OUR FENCING WORLD Karim Bashir - Editor

When a sporting superstar retires, with British Fencing. It was a period of there is a natural demand on their time. gargantuan change; some of which was Understandably fans want to hear the unquestionably painful and challenging. back story - warts and all - and, of course, Lottery funding came with targets, and what’s next. Richard Kruse’s record to those standards triggered the need to date speaks for itself, with the letters evolve from a sport that had been run by beneath the name on the back of his lamé passionate amateurs and volunteers whose adding a special patriotic meaning. He is knowledge of the game was immense but undoubtedly our countryman but Richard is whose sports administration was lacking. I truly a global fencing superstar, universally was the “company” man; Richard was one respected and liked on the international of the best fencers in the world but one circuit. who had been shaped by a time without the restrictions that were now being put British Fencing and The Sword were first in on him. Our relationship changed from line to celebrate Richard’s amazing career. respectful competitors to begrudgingly Preparing for our turn, I managed to sneak Kruse Baby Announcement respectful colleagues. a preview of the quite brilliant interview conducted by Johnny Davis on behalf of BF. During that period, despite the challenges It’s a chronological pit-stop tour through and the frictions, we somehow maintained athletic existence that has spanned over Richard’s fencing life, shot superbly and a healthy relationship. What’s more, our a quarter of a century and onto how he punctuated with glimpses into the special friendship grew. Having progressed into may be mapping out his future. Direction relationship formed between two British fencing commentary, I have since had the chosen, our interview, however, began fencing Olympians. If you haven’t already, privilege of the long-view - the close-up with what can only be described as a watch it here. lens - and I have been able to see that false start. A bandwidth-challenged Zoom what Richard has achieved during his chat was, quite correctly, rejected by My aim is always to produce as much competitive career is not just monumental Richard. Undeterred, and mirroring how original content for this magazine as in terms of British fencing, it is impressive he would tend to face frustrations during possible. So a revisit to Richard’s career when measured against the whole world. his illustrious competitive career, Richard was off the table and a blank document I can’t fully deconstruct the joy I have had proposed a solution that would take up sat on my laptop staring back at me for a in commentating on his performances more of his time yet was bound to produce few weeks. My goal was to offer a different over those few years, but I can say I have the result he (and I) wanted. He phoned me, perspective on Richard’s journey. appreciated every second, and I still carry “How about I come down to see you and we them with me. record the interview live?” My answer was One night, still in Editor’s no-man’s land, I simple: of course. sat down with my wife to start watching Leonardo on a popular streaming channel. Da Vinci advised, “Begin every canvas Settling in to view a dramatisation of with a wash of black, because all things Da Vinci’s life, I switched off my internal in nature are dark except where light fact-checker. One scene in particular gave is exposed”. So too the Bashir-Kruse me a lightbulb moment; an insight into relationship has moved between light how epic moments are sometimes made. and shadow over the years, depending Whilst preparing to create the biggest on the aspect. When I was not quite at ever equestrian statue, Da Vinci fell under the end of my own modest competitive a rearing horse, affording him a unique career, Richard entered the senior open perspective to serve as his inspiration. circuit as a precocious teenager. He was cutting his teeth in my world and I knew Perspective - that was the keyword (as did all of my peers) that when Ziemek here. This interview was not just a case Wojciechowski brought a “kid” to a senior of hearing some of the stories away event, attention was required. At least from from Richard’s on-piste life, it was my memory, Richard came as a pair - with equally about capturing him now at the Laurence Halsted. It wasn’t long before crossroads - travelling away from an both of them had overtaken me, as well as many others.

After a few years away, I returned to work July 2021 | 8 in a multi-faceted communications role Ziemek and Richard THE SWORD Feature

Four-time Olympian

Involvement in British Fencing? Fencing Commentary? Maybe - in a true ‘Coup de Kruse’: all three? With no other way to finish the “interview” than to crack open Richard’s Bongo a bottle of “Egypt’s finest sparkling wine”, we toasted an astounding career and also Back to marking the retirement of a to explore, “because they aren’t on the raised our glasses to what promises to be Fencing Great and that ill-fated Zoom circuit”. We talked about his language skills an incredible future. interview. Rather than turning out to be - more a polyglot expertise that would put a false-start, it actually proved a perfect a life-long linguist to shame. He modestly What happened next will stay with me dress-rehearsal. Gone were the shackles of volunteered that “having a bit of Russian just as much as the “interview”. We had being a top international athlete for Great really helps in fencing.” Well let’s just the customary ‘one glass’ and then went Britain and having to be cautious about say, if you’re ever trying to have a secret out for a paddle-boarding session on the every word uttered. Here was Richard chat in Russian, make sure Richard isn’t English Riviera. The sun was shining with Kruse: the man, the bloke, my friend. In that eavesdropping. His idea of a little might a water temperature fit for a walrus. We sense, it really wasn’t an interview. Yes, I catch you unawares. paddled out through the invigorating surf, had my topics prepared, but no scripted before sitting down and continuing our chat questions. In fact, I think he asked me Richard talked about the challenges of away from the cameras. A BBQ followed more questions than I asked him! It was making his exit from competitive fencing with our wives, Ivon and Jeanné, and a trip down memory lane for both of us. when the world pandemic ensured that much merriment; after all, he is “retired”. I remember thinking, “how am I going to there was nothing to retire from! When I It was a fitting end to that chapter of our be able to edit out all the bits about my posed the question, “what next?” I wasn’t relationship and a great springboard for the career?” but I carried on regardless through surprised that fencing did play a part in next. pure enjoyment. Reciprocated, I believe. his answer. He spoke to me about his And as you will see, it amounts to an forthcoming professional plans. Coaching? Sport in the UK has turned its attention easy-going exchange between two unlikely towards inspirational characters fellows who have enjoyed very different encouraging a healthy and fulfilling journeys through our amazing sport; two lifestyle. Richard embodies such qualities. guys who have also formed a friendship Those - combined with his unique wit and over twenty (or so) years. charm - makes him an ideal candidate to become an approachable yet uplifting role Da Vinci’s eye for the epic can be detected model for all. If you ever get a chance to when he declared, “To enjoy - to love a talk with him for even a few minutes, I’d thing for its own sake and for no other urge you to do so. “I’ll save it for the book” reason.” This is how Richard and I talked he said on a number of occasions. A book about fencing. That word was ever-present I can’t wait to read. It will speak volumes as the very relish of our conversation. about the mastery of his career on the Wherever we meandered, it all came back piste, with an epic depth reminiscent of to something fencing or fencing-related, Da Vinci, and with a humanity that is solid in a way that could only have arisen from Kruse. the individuality of his experience, from mine, and sometimes from how those two What a fencer. What a guy. I can’t wait to be individual experiences have coincided. part of Richard’s next chapter. Through fencing, we are both well- travelled, and you’ll be able to hear which Watch our chat in full here. country Richard likened to being a theme park, as well as the places he would like Johnny’s Interview July 2021 | 9 THE SWORD ROAD TO TOKYO Feature The Mepstead Way (Four Key Fights)

We know that Marcus Mepstead’s journey Championships in Dusseldorf saw Marcus to Tokyo 2020 began a long time ago. Big lose three first round fights - but he did decisions have occurred along the way beat World number one Foconi (ITA) 5-2 including his relocation to New York. The in that poule. Battling back to make the successful conclusion is testament to him round of 64 before an 11-10 defeat to and those around him. Congratulations to Zherebchenko (RUS) meant Marcus gained all involved and we’ll be backing you come three extra points ahead of the season Games-time. finale in .

Here, we take a look back at the period Most readers will already know about the Preparing for Siess who he also beat during which his journey became measured World silver medal winning performance #TeamBizzi in the tensely punctuated race for Olympic Marcus put in in Budapest. (A refresher is ranking points. As we now know, the available on page 6 of the October 2019 City. A top 32 finish in Paris in January team did not qualify, so it’s important to issue.) Looking back, there are three points meant he gained three more points on his remember that Marcus could only make it of great interest. To start with, there was Olympic total and with it a place in the top if he was one of the top two Europeans in the battle back from another shaky start. 16 of the World rankings - and no need to the Adjusted Olympic Rankings. If you are Then, there was that first round win against qualify for the final day at the next event. unfamiliar with the AOR check out page 16 Foconi at the European Championships. If An even better result came at the Turin of the April 2019 issue. that was the starter, the 15-9 victory over Grand Prix as Marcus made the top 16 him again in the round of 64 at the World adding nine more points to his growing The 2018-19 season was well underway Championships was a thoroughly enjoyable total. by the time the Tokyo qualification period opened, by which point Marcus had already He made no further gain at the Cairo World achieved two top 96 finishes, three 64s Cup later that month (February 2020) and and a top 16. However, for the purposes of then Anaheim and the DNS Grand Prix. An Olympic qualification everyone began on agonising 13 month pause in proceedings zero points at the first counting event in St followed before the final Tokyo qualifier, Petersburg, at the beginning of May the replacement Grand Prix, could go ahead 2019…..yes, it was that long ago! Marcus in March of this year. An almighty effort by started by claiming a single point, losing the FIE and the host country federations 15-10 to Gryglewski (POL) in the 96. He saw the final three qualifiers go ahead in only had to wait two weeks before earning Budapest (sabre), (epee) and Doha another 6 points by finishing 23rd at the (foil). A win over Choupenitch was next Shanghai Grand Prix. This time going out at #TeamBizzi the hands of Cheremisinov (RUS), 15-8. Nearest rival Llavador (ESP) did not make main course. Finally was the dessert, as it it to the second day but Marcus went out The rules for qualification stated that turned out to be. Marcus also beat close in the round of 64 in Doha, gaining no points from the respective Zonal and World European rivals Choupenitch (CZE) and more ranking points. At that juncture his Championships had to count for each Siess (POL) on the way to the best result final total of 98 points did not guarantee athlete’s individual Olympic ranking - along of his career to date. It’s fair to say that him a place at the Games. A Choupenitch with the five best other results - the next the Budapest Championship slogan “It’s A versus Siess final would see both of them two events in June and July were crucial. Kind Of Magic” certainly rang true for Mr leapfrog Marcus and it was on the cards, A less-than-perfect start at the European Mepstead - who crucially bagged 65 more with the fencers on opposite sides of the points towards his Tokyo tally as well as draw. Tensions grew as both fencers made those valuable “double-pointer” wins. it through the next round but qualification was confirmed as the Czech fencer went Ahead of the new season, Marcus warmed out in the round of 16 and the Pole exited up with a silver medal and three more the event in the quarterfinals. Olympic ranking points at the satellite event in Mexico City in September. He In a race that went to the wire, the battle ended 2019 with two World Cup 32s in Bonn back from a poor start at the World and Tokyo, losing to Cheung (HKG) and Safin Championships, the subsequent victories (RUS) respectively, and gathering another over Foconi, Choupenitch and Seiss and four points at each event. eventual silver medal in Budapest, served as the platform for Marcus to become a Victory Against Foconi in the 64 at the At the turn of 2020, as chatter about a member of Team GB for the second time. Worlds #TeamBizzi potential global pandemic was growing, Marcus set about improving on the points Now for the magic in Tokyo! July 2021 | 10 he had scored in St Petersburg and Mexico #SupportingTeamMarcus NEW

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*vs. ordinary lubrication strip THE SWORD THE MEPSTEAD SECRET Feature The Making of an Olympian Siân Hughes Pollitt - Feature Writer

The answer is an emphatic, to find a way to get around them. A lot “No. Never”. of people, whenever they are faced with difficulties, prefer to walk away”.

Stephen Mepstead, father of Marcus, has Stephen and Janet do pinpoint how the been asked if he ever utters the fateful rocks in the ride have always helped Team three words: ‘I can’t watch’. Does he ever Mepstead enjoy the intensity of the highs. bury his head in his hands then? He laughs. Marcus’ eldest sibling, his sister Ciel, has a “Absolutely not”. He says that the most Commonwealth fencing silver to her name important thing to note about himself, his and, of course, Marcus has many a medal - wife Janet, Marcus and Marcus’ sister and one Junior World Cup gold being a notable two brothers is that the Mepstead Family example of how the Team Mepstead are a team; and Team Mepstead always machine operates. On this one occasion, at Sian Hughes Pollitt work together. For that team not to be a JWC in Burgsteinfurt, , Stephen watching Marcus fence - whatever the was - as he usually would be - with fight scenario - is not an option. Marcus, piste-side. Nicknamed ‘Towel mates and their families needing to leave Man’ for always having one slung over On starting their family, Stephen and Janet for the airport to catch their plane home. his shoulder, it was Stephen’s aim to keep decided that there was no right way or Stephen goes on to describe that curious Marcus relaxed but in the game. wrong way to raise their kids, but there ‘bullet time’, often experienced at a fencing would at least be their way - and that competition, where, as the room emptied, Burgsteinfurt presented some all too was to be hands-on parents, spending as their focus intensified; as the clock ticked, familiar stumbling blocks to that plan. much time as they could with their children their energy distilled:- a kind of Mepstead A very strong field of play, attended by and, what’s more, enjoying it. All four Mini Matrix that had been built over the years the world’s best juniors made for tough Mepsteads started fencing after doing kicked in. Marcus kept going and won the poules where, in Stephen’s words, Marcus karate; well, not after they had all just been competition. ‘literally blew out’, making his subsequent doing it, but after all four had earned their elimination fights all the harder. By the time black belts at the martial art. Parents like Stephen and Janet know Marcus had battled through to the Last 8, how to treasure the moments when his kit was soaking wet and unusable. A Empty-handed combat progressed to something goes incredibly right. Equally fellow GB fencer lent him some dry fencing sword-fighting. By the time Marcus was they appreciate that such high points garb and Marcus progressed to the Last aged 11 and still in junior school, he had follow a spell in the shade. That dark place 4. The competition was over-running written in his school-book that he was came after Rio 2016 where Marcus had and the semi-finals saw Marcus’ squad- going to fence at the Olympics. But first participated as team reserve. Fencing lost came the Leon Paul Junior Series and that funding; Marcus had to re-think his game. is where Team Mepstead started their It seems so easy now to fast-forward onto fencing journey. They reminisce that, Summer 2019 and remember Marcus being despite the hard work and hard travelling, crowned World Silver Medallist, without these were times that both laid and made acknowledging the grit and the graft in- the family’s team foundations, establishing between where he didn’t just move towns, them never as simply individuals doing he moved continents; starting to work with a sport, but more as a unit that felt each a new club and new coach at Brooklyn other’s pain, and each other’s joy. Their Bridge Fencing Club with Dan Kellner. bond was formed. That Budapest Senior World Championships Stephen and Janet went to every single sported the slogan ‘A Kind of Magic’. competitive fencing event they could. The “Magic - that was certainly our experience” inevitable ups and downs are not easy confirms Stephen. “Marcus was nervous. to recall per se - possibly because Team He very nearly blew out in his poules but Mepstead do not see a problem as an scraped through”. Seeded 64th, Marcus’ end point; but rather as a speed bump. direct elimination event began with the “It is how we view everything”, Stephen then World Number One Seed, Alessio explains. “When you come across the Foconi at the other end of the piste. “It was obstacles along the road, you have got folkloric. On paper, everything was stacked up against him but I witnessed the most Stephen, Marcus and Janet Celebrate World amazing match of my life. Marcus was 10-1 July 2021 | 12 Silver up by the end of the first period”. that word, Marcus would near enough THE SWORD immediately win the next few points. The Feature Russians kept looking at me, eventually asking what this word ‘reset’ means. Too late. Marcus had won the match”.

Team Mepstead attracted the approval and praise of Marcus’ coach, Dan Kellner. Stephen and Janet concede that whereas coaches normally don’t relish parents being around, Dan could see there was, in the Mepstead Family dynamic, a magic ingredient. Dan’s words to them were, “Whatever you’re doing, keep on doing it, because it’s working”. And it is to the parent-child relationship that Team Mepstead Stephen returns when asked what he’d say to anyone who wants to discover medal at that JWC in Burgsteinfurt, raced the Mepstead Secret: “Mother or father, with his Team over to the airport to try with a boy or a girl - if your bond is strong and figure out a way home. The kind of enough then you will get through anything guy who, once he and Team Mepstead together. It isn’t easy and it may take had hastily handed over the keys to a time but as the song goes there ain’t no bemused hire car employee outside the mountain high enough to keep you from terminal, found that their plane was still achieving your goals if you have them in waiting patiently on the tarmac. The Junior your sights”. GB squad had saved the aircraft from departing; nobody was going anywhere without this kind of guy and his support network. As Team Mepstead boarded, the whole plane cheered.

Stephen and Janet do feel the love that Marcus At The Beginning comes from outside the family. They recognise that Marcus has a strong group Anybody mistakenly thinking that ‘Towel of professionals around him who all Man’ and Janet, who by all accounts gives know their roles and who all will him on an awesome team talk, were not able to to succeed. Originally they were both to effect much of a material difference at travel to Tokyo but with a delayed Olympics Senior World Championship level, should without crowds, that’s no longer possible. have a chat with the Russian spectators They plan to watch at home and say seated next to Team Mepstead as Marcus they’ll be with Marcus piste-side “110%”, took on their countryman, Timur Arslanov spectating “raw. No drinks, no snacks. Just in the Tableau of 16. Stephen tells of how on the big screen on the computer. Live. Hit Marcus needed a shout to bring him back by hit. Shouting”. down to the ‘game plan’. The shout could come from anywhere but it had to be Searching for the meaning of the name The First of Many #TeamBizzi audible to Marcus while he was fencing. Marcus, the internet suggests that it is “Whenever I could see that something was derived from Mars, the God of War. Not changing in Marcus’ approach, I would As for the Mepsteads, the strength of just a fighter, but the fighter. Looking for yell the agreed word: RESET. On hearing their bond with Marcus is made clear in the surname Mepstead, the search engine how they talk about him. They mention results inform us that family names come his sense of respect, his courtesy, as well about by grouping relatives together as his care for his fellow man. They tell by their characteristics, asserting that of him being a kind and loyal friend. They ‘Mepstead’ is a place ‘where maple trees also detail Marcus’ work ethic - everything grow’. Should we be curious, maples are from developing sustainable materials to renowned for their attributes of balance, use in fencing clothing to his tenacity in practical magic, promise, longevity, working to support himself in New York, generosity, and intelligence. and training long hours in the gym and the Salle. It sums it up when they gently add, There you go. The Mepstead Secret. Right “Marcus is the kind of guy you’d always like there. to have on your side”.

It is presumably then the same kind of You Know What It Means #TeamBizzi guy that, as soon as he had won that gold July 2021 | 13 THE SWORD “2020” QUALIFICATION Feature REVIEW The Geeks’ Guide Karim Bashir

A fencer’s journey to the him for keeping us all informed throughout qualified through the team route - two each has never been easy but this “four” year and allowing The Sword magazine to use from Europe and Asia and one each from cycle has come with the added uncertainty his illustrations in this article. PanAm and Africa. The final zonal qualifiers caused by the global pandemic. Right now had in their gift one place per weapon, open things look a lot brighter within our shores The second factor was understanding to one fencer per nation per weapon for but you don’t have to look too far afield to which points would count for each athlete nations without Olympic representation see that is not the case elsewhere. With and team. For teams it would be the points already in that discipline. that in mind, it’s possible that the next earned at Team World Championships and few pages may be redundant by the time respective zonal Team Championships Let’s take a look at who made it and their we publish the magazine, should things in 2019 plus their four best Team World journey there, starting of course with team change. Cup points in the qualification period. qualification. For individuals it would be points earned That said, the qualification journey is now at individual World Championships and Women’s Epee complete and I believe a celebration of the respective individual zonal Championships The qualification period began in May 2019 teams and athletes that made the cut is in 2019 plus their five highest points scored with the Dubai World Cup where , still worthy of celebration and note. For at Satellites, World Cups and Grand Prix the USA and made the podium with some athletes it may be their final chance events. in fourth. These were the first teams or perhaps their only chance to compete at to hold the automatic top four Olympic The Greatest Show on Earth. Of course, our To complicate matters further, the World berths. Poland and China remained there joint desire is to see them on the piste in changed in December 2019 and with it throughout the race. Russia, Korea and Tokyo but for now, let’s take a look back at the qualification process for all sports on Canada held their respective zonal places how they got there. the Olympic schedule, including fencing. and with Egypt outside the top 16 in the However, it wasn’t until March 2020 that World Rankings, held the “bonus” Before going into that I thought it might be the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic place. useful to remind or refresh you about the halted action on the piste. Ironically, it was process. The original qualification period in the shadow of Disneyland - a place of Things were shaken up by results earned was set to run from April 2019 to April 2020 dreams and fantasy - where everything in June at the four zonal championships. with four additional zonal qualification stopped just hours before the start of the Korea’s win at the Asian event promoted events following in May 2020 plus the Anaheim Foil Grand Prix. Quite rightly, them into the top four as replacements allocation of eight “host nation” places. fairness was the deciding factor. Most for Italy. Meanwhile, Russia were beating notably the teams from Italy and Russia Italy in the semi-final at the European There were two key things to note had pulled out days before the event and Championships; and despite Italy claiming throughout. The first was the fact that each the team from Korea, despite already bronze, Russia overtook them in the athlete’s and nation’s World ranking would being in California for a training camp, chase for their zonal spot. Brazil pulled be different to their Olympic qualification were unable to compete due to the new off the same trick at the Pan-American position - a topic that led to some very restrictions in place. Championships to overtake Canada, whilst confusing conversations around the globe. Egypt took the African title, moving them I made it simple for myself by putting Those restrictions would last a year, into the top 16 and thus securing their zonal everyone and every nation on zero points preventing all international competitive place. at the beginning of qualification. The FIE action. It was a very long year for everyone World ranking list was always going to be in the World. available on their website and important With double points available at the World for the purposes of ranking for the crucial Championships results in Budapest were qualifying events. However, that alone did The work done by the FIE to complete always going to play a key role in the not give a true picture of fencing’s Road to qualification - 4 World Cups and 1 Grand battle. China’s win moved them to the top Tokyo. Prix plus the zonal qualification events of Olympic qualification - a place they held - was immense. At the end of it, the top throughout. Russia’s silver medal moved There was also Dave Baker’s very useful four teams in the World qualified, plus them into the top four where they would Facebook page - Fencing - Qualification for the next best team from each of the four remain with China and Poland for the rest Tokyo 2020 Olympics. A special thanks to zones (Europe, Asia, Pan-America and of the race. Italy dropped out of the top four Africa) - as long as they were in the top but their bronze medal meant they only sixteen. Additional individual places were dropped into the European place. They beat awarded to the top fencers per zone (one Ukraine in the play-off match - a result July 2021 | 14 per country) from nations who hadn’t that made a difference to both teams in the end. Canada finished higher than Brazil in just two events to claim a top four Olympic THE SWORD Budapest to move into the Pan-American berth. The USA, Italy and Hong Kong Feature place and remained ahead of them for the secured their zonals places as a result and rest of the period. Egypt did enough to stay Estonia held onto the place vacated due to Uzbekistan’s Malika Khakimova who had in the top 16, keeping hold of the African the lack of an African qualifier. a top 16 finish at the Asian Championships spot. and a bronze medal from the Satellite event It’s hard to gauge performance trajectories in her capital city, Tashkent. Epee, being what it is (so I’m told!) ensured because of the break in qualification the battle was far from over. However, the and the likelihood that no international ’s Sarra Besbes held the single only significant change at the World events will take place before the Games. additional African place throughout Cup in November 2019 was the fact that However, despite the plateau, the Chinese qualification and Brazil’s Nathalie Egypt dropped out of the top 16 in World team looks good and are being hunted Moellhausen’s World title was more than Rankings. Ukraine benefited and found down by both Poland and Korea. Russia enough to secure the Pan-American place. themselves in a qualification position for were solid throughout and you can’t go It will be Moellhausen’s second Olympic the first time. into any match against the USA, Italy or Games appearance for Brazil having Estonia unprepared. Hong Kong definitely competed at Rio 2016 under the Brazilian Italy enjoyed the winter sun the most in squeezed in through the back-door but flag and her third Games in total after her Havana at the start of 2020. They won the remember they beat Italy in so reserve selection for Italy in 2012. event and jumped into the top four places, also represent a threat. moving the USA out but only down into the Pan-American place, to the detriment Will there be another twist in Tokyo itself? of Canada. With the USA so far ahead of their northerly neighbours, Canada’s hopes of qualification rested on whether the USA could regain a top four place. Havana silver medallists, Estonia moved into the European spot despite losing to Italy in the final whilst Korea and Ukraine retained their respective Tokyo places.

All eyes were on Italy and the USA at the next event in Barcelona and they were on a collision course to meet each other in the quarter-finals. Whoever made the The Women’s Epee individual race had top four would open up another berth for its own twists and turns. With two their zone. That meeting never happened berths available for Europe, five athletes though, as Italy fell to Hong Kong in the reached a qualification position at various round of 16. The USA went on to take moments in the race - Mara Navarria bronze, moving into a top four Olympic (ITA), (ITA), Aurianne Men’s Epee places, meaning promotion for Canada Mallo (FRA), Coraline Vitalis (FRA) and into the Pan-American spot. Italy battled Olena Kryvytska (UKR). Vitalis won the Beginning at the iconic Paris World Cup in to ninth place in to limit the damage European Championships in Dusseldorf May 2019, , , Italy and done, moving back down into the European which moved her into one of the places. Spain claimed an early lead in the race for place. Estonia’s top 16 finish kept them She followed that up with a fifth-place the team places; Switzerland being the only ahead of Ukraine, who went out in the 32 in finish at the World Championships and ones to maintain a place in the top four Barcelona, thus ensuring them the bonus never dropped out of qualification thereon. throughout. , , the USA and place. Meanwhile Korea won the event, Popsecu, despite some good early running, Egypt were positioned in the zonal spots securing the Asian zonal place but still a dropped out of Europe’s top two in the going into the regional championships. long way behind fourth place. AOR (Adjusted Olympic Rankings) before winning the Tallinn World Cup in November Despite winning the Asian title, China only Just over thirteen months passed before 2019. Popescu along with Vitalis would not moved into the continental place as silver the final qualifier in Kazan could take place relinquish those places in the remainder of medallists Korea jumped into the top four. and again all eyes were on Italy and the the race. That must have been a particularly Pan-America’s sleeping giant, Cuba won USA to find out who would secure that top crushing blow for Kryvytska who finished their Championships to claim the zonal 4 spot. In a turn of fortunes, it was the USA level on points with Vitalis but failed to place as second-placed America also that fell early, going out to Hungary in the qualify individually on the countback and moved into the top four. Morocco took the round of 16 but battling back to ninth place. whose team missed out in the eleventh African title overtaking Egypt for the zonal Italy lost to Korea in the quarter-finals and hour. place, but the real story of the round was they finished fifth which was not enough to happening in Europe. It was no surprise to overtake the USA. There was still time for Kong Man Wai Vivian of Hong Kong see Russia win the event - jumping into the one more twist in the tale though. Korea dominated the battle for the two Asian faced the top qualifier China in the semi- places but ultimately didn’t need one as finals in Russia and went on to beat them. her team qualified. Instead one place would Despite the loss in the final to Poland, go to the highest Japanese fencer, a battle Korea had come from 59 points behind in won by Sato Nozomi. The other went to July 2021 | 15 top four Olympic berths in doing so - but China picked up the vacant spot. So, France, THE SWORD they beat Denmark in the final. A resurgent Italy, Ukraine and Switzerland made it a Feature Hungary claimed bronze as none of France, European top four as Korea, China, Russia Italy or Ukraine made the medal matches. and the USA secured the other places. France came away with the European zonal secured Venezuela’s Ruben Limardo place. Form isn’t everything going into the Gascon’s place whilst a quarter-final finish Olympics but France, Italy and Ukraine will for Morocco’s Houssam Elkord at the Berne Something like “normal order” resumed be the favourites. Switzerland may have World Cup gave him the African spot which at the World Championships as France plateaued but are always dangerous; and he kept until the end. beat Ukraine for the title. The two teams don’t rule out Korea or China. The USA jumped into the top four to replace Korea may be some way behind in points but are Women’s Foil and the USA. They also remained in top four potentially only two wins away from an qualification spots along with Switzerland Olympic medal. Beginning at the Tauberbischofsheim for the remainder of the contest. China’s World Cup in May 2019, the team race for fourth place finish pushed them above women’s foil was settled relatively early Korea for the Asian zonal place whilst the on. Russia won the event from France, USA replaced Cuba as the Pan-American Italy and the USA. Those four occupied zonal qualifier. The USA held that place the four automatic Olympic qualification through until the end of the period. Italy’s earliest - Russia, France and the USA fifth place was enough for them to take the continued without ever dropping out. European berth as Russia remained in the Strong showings from Japan, Canada and top four and Morocco did enough to hold on Poland meant their journeys began in their to the African spot. respective zonal places and with Egypt outside the top 16 in the World rankings, France followed up the World title with Korea sat in the bonus place. Canada held In the individual race, seven European gold at the Berne World Cup in November the Pan-American zonal qualification fencers held qualification places at some 2019. Italy’s second place meant that they throughout the battle. point - Radozlaw Zawrotniak (POL), Tristan joined France, Ukraine and Switzerland Tulen (NED), Andrea Santarelli (ITA), Yuval as the top four Olympic qualifiers. These Japan won the Asian Championships and Freilich (ISR), Gergely Siklosi (HUN), Bas four would remain in those places for the sprung Italy into a top four berth. Korea Verwijlen (NED) and Sergey Bida (RUS). remainder of the battle. Russia dropped took silver at the event which was enough Verwijlen’s fifth place at the Doha Grand into the European place and Egypt did to move into that zonal place. Italy’s Prix in January 2020 moved him into enough to overtake Morocco, who never European bronze medal meant that they second position and one he maintained got back ahead in the African race. China only dropped into their zonal spot - pushing until the end. With Russia, Italy and Ukraine retained the Asian berth. out Poland. Tunisia upset Egypt at the qualifying by team, Siklosi’s World title African Championships by beating them in was always going to be enough to see him Hungary won the next event in Heidenheim the final and moving firmly into the African through to Tokyo. which saw them overtake Russia for the place. European zonal places whilst the USA, Japan’s Yamada Masaru overtook China and Egypt retained their regional Italy’s silver medal at the World teammate Minobe Kazayasu early in the qualification places. The Vancouver World Championships - losing to Russia in the season to secure one of the Asian places Cup was the last event to take place in final - moved them back into the top four and Korea’s team qualification along with men’s epee before the enforced break. Olympic places and they remained there Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Kurbanov’s rich run China’s demise in the round of 16 was for the rest of the race, with Russia, France of form, meant he took the second place. worsened by Korea’s return to form to win and the USA. They demoted Japan but their Winning the Pan-American Championships the event. Korea moved into the Asian berth fifth place finish was better than Korea’s as Hungary, the USA and Egypt kept their eighth. So Japan moved into the Asian zonal zonal places. place. It wasn’t all bad news for Korea though. Tunisia chose not to compete in After the long pause, the final qualifier by this weapon at the Worlds and Egypt didn’t ranking took place in Kazan. Hungary knew do enough to get into the top 16 of the that they had their hands full when facing World rankings. Korea, thus, moved back China in the round of 16 and were edged into the bonus place. Poland’s quarter- out by a single point. They only recovered final finish was enough to move them back to fourteenth place as home team, Russia into the European spot and they put some secured fourth and overtook them for distance between them and a chasing European qualification. China went on to Hungarian team. finish third which wasn’t quite enough to overtake Korea for the Asian place. The picture became more clear at the next However, Egypt couldn’t do enough to stay event in Cairo. The home nation, Egypt, in the top 16 in the World rankings and despite finishing in last place, jumped into the top 16 in the World, due to the low turnout at this World Cup. That moved them into the African zonal place which July 2021 | 16 they maintained for the rest of the race. That meant no bonus place for Korea. of Poland and Israel’s Nicole Pustilnik….. THE SWORD Even though the Koreans outperformed so it seemed! The distraction was that all Feature Japan at the event, they didn’t do enough three could end up on the same points after to overtake them and didn’t move back the last event and there was uncertainty as The USA won the World Championships into a qualifying place for the remainder of to who would win the countback. No one, beating France in the final which widened the battle. Poland’s exit in the round of 16 perhaps other than the fencer in question their lead at the top of the Olympic meant that they retained their European and her team, expected that Turkey’s Irem rankings. Italy’s bronze medal took them place, but Hungary closed the gap by Karamete would reach the quarterfinals at into the top four where they would stay for finishing fifth. the last event in Doha, to jump ahead of all the rest of the period. They pushed Egypt three of them. She did though! “It’s not over out of the four automatic places but Egypt’s Whilst not confirmed, seven of the until it’s over”, they correctly say! top 16 finish moved them into the African provisionally qualified teams would go zonal place which they did not relinquish. on to retain their places. The final place - Russia’s fourth place in Budapest meant the European one - was claimed and not that they overtook Germany for the relinquished at the St Maur World Cup. European berth. Meanwhile Korea finished Looking over their shoulders, Poland went in the top eight to move ahead of Japan for out to Italy in the quarter-finals as Hungary the Asian spot. Japan never moved back surprised France to make the semi-finals. into a qualification position. Hungary finished fourth which was enough to overtake Poland for the European berth Korea’s second place at the next event in which they held onto through the final Bonn meant they swapped places with events in Katowice and Kazan. Hong Kong and moved into the top four. Hong Kong moved down into the Asian Whilst Japan will be on home soil at the zonal place. The situation remained the Olympics, there is a clear gap between same after the Tokyo World Cup which was them and Russia, Italy, France and the USA. the Olympic test event. Importantly, Korea The strong favourites have to be Russia. beat Hong Kong in the fifth place play-off to increase their lead.

The crucial match at the Paris World Cup was the quarter-final showdown between Men’s Foil Korea and Hong Kong with the latter getting revenge to make the semi-finals. The team battle for men’s foil qualification Another straight swap was the result with began in Russia at the St Petersburg World Korea moving down to the Asian zonal Cup where the top four spots were claimed place. by the USA, Hong Kong, Korea and France whilst Italy Egypt, China and Brazil moved The final team qualification event was into the early zonal places available. The held in Cairo in February 2020 and again In the race for the additional individual USA and France never moved out of the top Hong Kong beat Korea in the quarterfinals places, Saskia Van Erven Garcia from four from then. ensuring that they would stay ahead of Colombia moved into the single Pan- them. It was to be a crucial result with American place and stayed there The Zonal Championship period always Russia finishing second in Egypt and throughout. In the battle for the African throws the Olympic qualification standings moving into the top four automatic berths, place, Morocco’s Manal Karmaoui, Tunisia’s off but, for this discipline, things looked pushing Hong Kong into the Asia place. Ines Boubakri and Noha Hany from Egypt more unusual than we’re used to. Japan Whilst it meant Korea missed out on held the top position for one event each won the Asian Championships to move qualification, Germany gained by moving up before Boubakri’s top 64 finish at the World into their zonal place over China who into the European spot. Championships moved her into the position they beat in the final. Hong Kong’s bronze - one which she would never give up. medal was enough to keep them in the The USA seemed lined up to win in Tokyo top four. Germany’s silver medal at the but France, Italy and Russia are all podium The race for the two Asian spots was European Championships catapulted threats. slightly more complicated, but once Korea them into their zonal place and, despite dropped out of team qualification one of Italy beating Russia for bronze, the two the places was always going to go to Jeon nations remained outside the qualification Hee Sook. The other battle was down to places. There were no surprises at the which Chinese fencer could finish top; in the Pan-American Championships as Canada’s end it was Chen Qingyuan who won that loss to the USA in the final saw them battle with Shi Yue. Germany’s Leonie Ebert overtake Brazil into their zonal place, moved into one of the European places at where they would remain for the rest of the the first event and did more than enough to qualification period. Egypt won the African stay there. Hungary’s qualification by team Championships moving them up into the meant that early runner Fanny Kreiss didn’t top four, whilst Tunisia’s second place put need the spot and in the end the race came them into the World’s top 16 and thus the down to Spain’s Maria Diaz, Julia Walczyk African zonal spot. July 2021 | 17 There was a lot of early movement in the replaced, Ukraine and Japan moved into THE SWORD race for the individual men’s foil places, their respective zonal spots. Feature particularly for the European and Asian fencers. Brazil’s Guillherme Toldo silver Russia won the World Championships in bronze medal finish. Gkountoura held on medal at the Pan-American Championships Budapest, beating France in the final. The to that position through the final event in moved him into that zonal place and he result was enough to elevate France into Budapest. In fact, the Athens event proved defended his position through the rest of the top four automatic places where they to be where all the individual qualifiers the period. Our very own Marcus Mepstead remained with Russia, Italy and Korea for were set. Nour Montaser of Egypt had been scored a superb World Championship the duration of qualification. China finished in pole position for the African place before silver and that moved him into one of the above Japan in Budapest which meant her teammate Nada Hafez leapfrogged her. European berths. He went on to remain whilst they moved out of the top four, they The other Asian spot was concluded too, there for the rest of the race. Tunisia’s were only demoted to the Asian berth. as Emura Misaki of Japan overhauled her Mohamed Samandi moved into the African Japan never made it back. compatriot Tamura Norika. place with his Budapest result and did enough to stay there. The second European The status quo remained through the spot switched hands for the final time at next World Cup in Orleans as Ukraine did the Cairo World Cup, where Spain’s Carlos enough to stay ahead of Hungary in the Llavador took gold to secure qualification. European race - the only one yet to be The Asian battle also wasn’t settled until determined. That race was settled at the the end either. With Korea and Japan out next event in Salt Lake City where the two of team qualification the individual spots European contenders faced each other in went to Lee Kwanghyun (KOR) and Shikine the semi-finals. Hungary took the victory Takahiro (JPN). and ultimately the European team berth for the Tokyo Games with two events still remaining in Athens and Budapest.

Russia will be the strong favourites for gold in Japan.

Men’s Sabre

Italy, Russia, Kora and Hungary made the early running at the first Olympic qualifier, the World Cup, by filling the top four places. Korea and Italy remained there for the duration of qualification. Iran and Egypt With the season starting with the finished fifth and fifteenth respectively, Grand Prix and the subsequent fluctuations and moved into their zonal positions where in team qualification - particularly for they stayed throughout qualifying. France Women’s Sabre the European and Asian teams - there were the early runners in the European was little to discuss regarding individual zonal race whilst the USA initially occupied Women’s team sabre qualification began qualification until after the World the Pan-American place. with the World Cup. Italy won the Championships. Canada’s Gabriella Page event moving them into the top four places claimed a bronze at the PanAmerican Germany won the European Championships which they remained in for the entire race. Championships and her top 32 finish at the to move into the top four, replacing Russia Korea’s bronze medal was enough to put Worlds was enough to move her up into - the Germans remained in the top four them into the top four and they also stayed her zonal berth and she remained there from that point on. They beat Hungary in there. Ukraine and Japan completed the until the end. India’s Bhavani Devi made the final who leapfrogged Russia to jump top four as the USA and Tunisia moved into the World Championships top 16, moving into the European zonal berth. It was no their zonal places and were never replaced. her into one of the two Asian places - a surprise to see the USA beat Canada at the France and China did the early running in place she also retained throughout the Pan-American Championships, a result the races for their zonal berths. battle. It took until Ukraine dropped out that moved the USA into the top four and of the team running at the Salt Lake City Canada into their zonal spot. In the round of zonal championships, World Cup before there was further clarity Russia and China claimed gold medals, in the individual race. Ukraine’s World Ultimately, the team qualification places moving them into the top four. Russia number one, Olga Kharlan was always were settled by the time the World went on to secure that top four position going to claim the top European place from Championships were over. Korea won a throughout the remainder of the that point on. Bianca Pascu of thrilling final against Hungary in Budapest. qualification period. The teams they sat in the second European place until The result solidified Korea’s position at the the Athens World Cup when Greek fencer top of the Olympic qualification rankings July 2021 | 18 Theodora Gkountoura overtook her with a and promoted Hungary into the top four, where they would stay with Korea, Italy never give up. Germany’s Max Hartung THE SWORD and Germany. Russia’s fifth place finish put and Vincent Anstett of France held the top Feature them into the European zonal place and European place early in the qualification the USA’s tenth place was enough to move period, but Germany moved into a team them into the Pan-American spot, demoting qualification position after the European Canada. Championships. Anstett’s teammate, Bolade Apithy finished in the top eight in Those places didn’t change through the the individual in Dusseldorf and that was last four qualification World Cups - Cairo, enough to claim the leading European , Luxembourg and Budapest. place and he was never usurped. ’s Sandro Bazadze replaced Ukraine’s Andriy Will we get every neutrals dream and a Yagodka in the race for the other European repeat of the World Championship final - place. He was temporarily removed after between Hungary and Korea in Tokyo? Russia dropped out of team qualification at the European Championships and Kamil Ibragimov moved up. However, Russia’s promotion after the World Championships reinstated Bazadze and he remained there throughout. Vietnam’s Thanh An Vu and Chinese fencers Xu Yingming and Wang Shi did the early running for the two Asian individual spots. Ultimately it became two races in one - with Wang and Shi competing to finish the top Chinese fencer and Vu battling it out with Japan’s In the individual race, Tunisia’s Fares Yoshida Kento. Vu hung on until the Cairo Whilst other teams and fencers were Ferjani was the first to move into position. World Cup where Yoshida’s top 64 finish involved in the races for qualification, this A top 64 finish at the Grand Prix was was enough to promote him. Yoshida’s article has focussed solely on those that enough to stake an early claim for the remaining results meant he held on for held a qualification berth at least once African spot, that he never relinquished. qualification. Wang’s silver medal at the during the period. Argentina’s Stefano Lucchetti and Pascual Asian Championships meant he overtook Di Tella shared the early lead for the teammate Xu for the top zonal individual The final chance for individuals outside Pan-American race with Canadian Shaul place. He held onto it until the penultimate of Japan to qualify came at the special Gordon. A quarter-final finish for Gordon at World Cup in Luxembourg where Xu’s top zonal competitions. It was a high pressure the World Championships was enough for 16 placing was enough for him to pinch the winner-takes-all scenario. Here are the him to take the lead - one that he would place. results:

July 2021 | 19 THE SWORD TRAVEL TO TOKYO Community Evie Millar - Head Office & Events Administrator BF Staff have also been getting involved!

Pets have joined in! I’ve been taking my dog In March 2021, BF launched the Travel to with me on walks in the countryside! Tokyo Challenge. The challenge is an environmentally friendly way to support Marcus Mepstead as he sets his sights on Tokyo. Marcus is an ambassador for Trees for the Future and supports their work in creating forest gardens across the world, for communities to grow sustainable food sources. With supporters unable to travel to Japan to spectate, they can now virtually travel the distance, whilst keeping fit and reducing their carbon output in the process.

As we are unable to travel to Tokyo this We are pleased to announce that Pulseroll, year, and to get ready for the restart of BF’s Official Supplier, has kindly provided activity, we set all members the challenge prizes for the challenge! With prizes going to join us virtually to “Travel to Tokyo”. To to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed members complete the task to travel from BF HQ who have completed the most steps at in London to Tokyo, we are challenging the end of the challenge, along with prize members to help us complete the Photo Credit: Hannah Gavin draws where all members who have 16,312,500 steps, which is based on an entered the challenge are entered into the average of 1,250 steps per kilometre. Hannah, BF’s Development Officer - Clubs and Regions, took this image whilst getting draw! The challenge is taking place on BF’s in her steps! It’s not too late to join the challenge! Join Playwaze platform, within the GB League today and help us reach Tokyo! More Community. When you sign up to the members averaging between 15,000- information including how to sign up can be challenge you can link your personal fitness 20,000 steps per day! found here. tracker, which means all your steps - whether it’s walking, running or any other We have also been celebrating the progress In addition to a free profile, BF affiliated exercise, such as your footwork sessions - of our challenge on social media. We clubs also have access to a range of count towards your total. have launched #BFTraveltoTokyo, where features including Push Notifications those taking part can share their favourite for Members and New Feed capabilities. Within the first few weeks of the challenge, images while they are out and about and Clubs also get to trial select features on a we saw some excellent totals, with some encourage others to take up the challenge. never-ending cycle - perfect for a series of repeating sessions or a one-off course.

Photo Credit: Dan Kew

Dan Kew took this image while walking along the River Arun taking part in the challenge!

July 2021 | 20 Photo Credit: Evie Millar THE SWORD AN APPOINTMENT Feature WITH DR KATZ Rob Cawdron Talks with Consultant Psychologist Jonathan Katz

Dr Jonathan Katz and his company, The My route to sport psychology integrated PinM Consulting, have been working in my training and experience of working partnership with British Fencing’s Athlete in clinical/counselling psychology with Development Programme to develop my increasing interest in supporting psychological and performance tools for performance and athlete growth athletes and coaches that will help them through coaching. Sport psychology learn and refine the mental skills necessary was in its formative stages of growth for competing at international level. In in the UK when I was entering the this interview, Dr Katz will talk about discipline. The typical route to becoming how he got into fencing, where the sport a sport psychologist at the time was led him and his experiences in a range of psychologists and sport scientists, with a high performance environments including background in performance and exercise multiple Olympic and Paralympic Games. environments. My entry into becoming a sport psychologist was the integration How did you get involved in fencing? of an academic and professional training in psychology culminating in becoming I started fencing at the American School in a Consultant Psychologist working in London during a month-long summer camp psychiatric hospital settings along with my aged 15. Fencing was something that I had ongoing career and training in fencing as a wanted to do for several years before this coach and performer. opportunity arose and I have never looked back. My curiosity, motivation to master Sport psychology was emerging as a technique and tactics, compete and achieve distinct professional discipline that this among a group of friends has remained enabled me to express the full range strong ever since. of my experience, manifested through Championships and at the multi-sport accreditation with the British Association Maccabi Games. What have you done/enjoyed most in of Sport and Exercise Sciences and as a fencing? Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist More recently people might know you as My formative fencing years were with the British Psychological Society. This a psychologist. Tell us about how you got characterised by developing technical pathway to sport psychology was rare at involved in psychology and some of your excellence through the then proficiency the time and remains somewhat unusual. experiences? awards scheme. I was supported by two coaches who were generous in their time I studied psychology concurrent with my My professional background was founded and commitment to me personally and fencing training and coaching, with a focus on individual support through establishing my fencing development, and I thrived on treating clients experiencing significant effective therapeutic/professional in those athlete-coach relationships. My mental health concerns. I worked across relationships, which adds depth and fencing education also included competing a treatment service that handled a breadth to the range of support options in school matches and local competitions, wide range of psychological difficulties, I access when providing and delivering which needed to be negotiated with school, developing and delivering group-based sport psychology support. The lessons of university and finally work demands. My and individual treatment packages. This understanding the client, appreciating the desire to learn more about fencing took me role was as part of a wider team. Central client’s experience from their perspective, to my first coaching course, which opened to this experience is (a) the appreciation creating and facilitating the opportunity for further opportunities. A chronic injury of understanding ‘the whole person’ and client growth and change have stayed with in my mid 20s cut short my competitive ‘not just the problem’; and (b) the value of me. These principles remain a feature in my opportunities so coaching took precedence, teams of professionals working together in professional work as both psychologist and becoming a three-weapon coach - BF L5 the client’s interest. coach. and BAF Diploma. I have and currently coach youth, senior and veteran fencers In the course of your career you’ve gone Understanding mental health and including piste-side support at national and from working in clinical/counselling recognising threats to an individual’s international tournaments, Championships psychology to also being a sports wellbeing has become an increasing and at multiple Commonwealth Fencing psychologist. Is that a typical career path, feature within performance environments. Championships. I returned to competing and what are some of the key insights you following rehabilitation culminating in have brought from the clinical world to the representing GBR at four Coaches World sports performance world? July 2021 | 21 My experience of having observed and believe it is so important for these skills to THE SWORD worked with clients that have experienced be embedded early? Feature significant psychological wellbeing issues Facilitating, supporting and maintaining provides me with an appreciation of (a) positive mental health through managing identifying and recognising the significance psychological wellbeing is, and has been, of early warning signs of wellbeing central to all strands of my experience. to support individual personal wellbeing concerns, and (b) a capacity to provide Originally this took the form of providing and performance delivery, athlete-coach- appropriate interventions. I increasingly external packages of support to individuals. family/friends relationships, and managing develop packages that use this awareness A core feature of these packages was pressures and demands related to the related to psychological wellbeing support to provide information so that clients wider performance environment. of the client, to complement supporting developed greater self-awareness athletes to develop resilient coping through receiving accurate information Prevention or cure? Mental health/ strategies in managing performance and knowledge, thus supporting the skills psychological wellbeing or performance pressures and demands. to make informed decisions related to delivery? These dichotomies have been facilitating psychological change and frequently cited when exploring how best Over your career, you have worked as developing robust coping. to support athletes. I challenge this in Head Quarters Psychologist for the British favour of developing and supporting ‘the Paralympic Association at the 2004 and There is a consensus in sport psychology of whole person’. Accordingly, the mental 2008 Paralympic Games as well as an NGB the interaction between personal wellbeing skills toolbox provides opportunities for psychologist for the 2010 Winter and 2012 and sporting performance. So, the work athletes to learn adaptive coping skills Summer Paralympic Games. What are undertaken with the ADP is designed to proactively as well as offering remedial some of the lessons that you have learned encourage the young athletes, and not support that work in a complementary way. about what it takes to be successful in so young ones, to develop awareness these high-performance environments? and understanding of how to meet their If you would like to learn more about the The bravery and resilience of athletes to individual psychological and emotional work that Dr Katz has been doing with the commit to deliver performances where needs, providing a foundation upon which Athlete Development Programme, turn their success and failures, in terms of to build resilient sporting performance. to page 24, where you can read an article outcomes, is so public, conspicuous Importantly athletes tend to flourish when introducing two of the centrepieces of Dr and judged by so many. Because of immersed in a supportive environment that Katz’s work with the ADP: the THRIVE- this, the need to develop internal is characterised by effective relationships MANAGE-SURVIVE model and Mood & resilience that insulates (a) the process with key stakeholders. Consequently, wellbeing Meter, designed to aid athletes of the performance from the result; (b) the Psychological Growth and Mental and their support networks in developing supports psychological wellbeing from Skills: A Sports Psychology Programme, accurate self-awareness and then the demands of the emotional roller- aka ‘mental skills toolbox’ is designed communicating effectively with each other. coaster of performance highs and lows characteristic of the Games; and (c) developing and maintaining sustainable effective boundaries between the ‘athlete performance’ and the wider organisational and environmental distractions. The importance for athletes to have a dedicated support team where non-sporting support team members are incorporated into the important sport support team members.

For the last 2 years you, and your company, The PinM Consultancy, have been working with BF’s Athlete Development Programme (ADP), designing tools for introducing athletes to mental skills. Why do you

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July 2021 | 22 THE SWORD SUPPORTING MENTAL Development HEALTH The Wellbeing Meter By Dr Jonathan Katz - Consultant Psychologist

In this article, consultant psychologist Dr The athlete’s personal perception of The overall consequences of this include Jonathan Katz will be introducing readers success or failure is the barometer used athletes experiencing a roller-coaster of to the Mood & wellbeing Meter as well as when appraising their performance. emotions; driven to striving for success; the THRIVE-MANAGE-SURVIVE Model. The perfectionist tendency previously an intolerance for what is perceived as mentioned adds a subtle but significant failure in themselves and others; and These psychological and performance tools variable to the ‘personal appraisal’. Even limited acceptance in taking time for rest, form the centerpiece of the work that Dr in performances when an athlete has recovery and relaxation. And despite this, Katz has conducted in partnership with achieved their outcome goal, this variable athletes still expect themselves to perform British Fencing’s Athlete Development can be activated in the form of a “yes, reliably, predictably, at their optimum level Programme to give athletes the resources but…”. These ‘yes, buts’ take the form of under the high environmental, personal to develop the mental skills they need to be ‘even though I achieved my outcome’: (a) and interpersonal pressure-cooker of able to perform at international level. it didn’t feel good; (b) I should have been competition every time, all of the time! even more efficient in my execution; (c) Performers in general, and elite performers I shouldn’t have given away silly hits; The challenges associated with managing specifically, typically share certain (d) I didn’t feel confident enough during and coping with performance expectations psychological characteristics. There is a the fight; etc. So, even though athletes are recognised in supporting individual strong drive to succeed, frequently defined are driven to succeed, they can subtly mental health and resilience to athlete’s by winning, with an inner voice fueling undermine their own feelings of success performance delivery. These expectations this drive by “I have to win/succeed” and/ despite actually achieving what they set include what an athlete expects from or “I must not lose/fail”! The strength of out to do. themselves; what the coach expects from this drive is channeled into ‘doing my best’ the athlete; what other stakeholders expect in every aspect of training, competition Unrelenting standards and a drive from the athlete; and what family and preparation and performance delivery. towards achieving them, results in friends expect from the athlete. And this ‘Doing my best’ equates to being perfect! athletes demanding a high intensity from does not include the demands associated themselves in all training and competition with online sources of pressure. This is Winning and success is primarily defined activities. Taking time for what is perceived represented in the ‘athlete-coach-family/ by achieving outcomes goals in the form as ‘doing nothing and a waste of time’ friends interaction’ graphic. of results. Performers then appraise their encourages athletes to de-emphasise time worth and value as a person based on for rest and recovery, despite appreciating The knowledge, skills and techniques these results: “I’m only as good as my last that these activities are important. in managing one’s mood contributes to result”. This result could be, for example, a competition outcome or how the most recent training session or lesson went.

Using an outcome to measure success means that either “I’m 100% okay” or “I’m a total failure”. This has implications for mental health and psychological wellbeing, as the athlete’s appraisal of their self- worth, self-esteem and competence is directly correlated with either being ‘okay’ or ‘a failure’ that is dependent on the outcome of their most recent performance, as they perceive it to be. The net result can be emotional states that swing from ‘feeling great’ to ‘feeling awful’ that, over time, become increasingly fatiguing and a drain on coping resources.

July 2021 | 23 supporting mental health and developing SURVIVE model where ‘MANAGE’ refers THE SWORD resilience. A range of coping resources to greater tolerance and acceptance of Development has been developed to provide athletes, psychological discomfort even while coaches and other key individuals with the individual goals or preferences are not facility to support wellbeing. The Mood and being met. Wellbeing Meter is the centrepiece formed likely to change during training sessions around a THRIVE-MANAGE-SURVIVE (TMS) The TMS model adopts a holistic approach and certainly in competitions and model, which is illustrated in the ‘Mood & that supports ‘the person’ as well as ‘the championships. Applying the M&WB meter, wellbeing Meter’ (M&WB Meter) graphic. athlete’. Mental wellbeing and coping therefore, becomes a valuable asset in supporting performance, achieved through using one’s self-awareness to produce an accurate self-appraisal of one’s current mental state - TMS.

Each mental state provides a ‘signpost’ directing the athlete to a range of helpful coping resources. For example, psychological strain, feeling emotionally drained, and/or physically exhausted are typical indications of “Surviving”. Remember, one’s current mental state acts as a perceptual filter. So if one is ‘Thriving’ one’s appraisal of a given situation may be different compared to when one’s ‘Surviving’ in a similar situation. An important consequence of this is how one either responds to feedback from others Real-time reflective practice is a necessary are intrinsically linked as athletes who or how one provides feedback to others, activity that facilitates a ‘being in the perceive themselves to be coping well, tend is influenced by the respective moods of moment’ focus, which is underpinned to feel more self-confident and trusting the people involved in that moment. Your by an athlete developing ‘accurate self- of their competence to deliver optimum attention is directed to the ‘athlete-coach- awareness’. Accurate self-awareness performances. The battery representation family/friends interaction’ graphic where refers to a realistic appraisal of the of the M&WB Meter is designed to you can see the three individuals’ M&WB athlete’s current mental, emotional and encourage the appraisal of coping in terms Meter ratings are different. Consider the physical state, and associated coping of energy and resources. The lower or implications for this when managing high resources in relation to meeting ‘real-time’ higher the perceived levels at any given performance demands? situational pressures and demands. The moment quantifies an associated mood creation of the M&WB Meter forms an associated with the three mental states Stability, reliability, predictability accessible language to articulate, support (TMS). The green-amber-red colour coding and consistency of mood supports and communicate an athlete’s current adds an additional visual representation psychological wellbeing that underpins mood. that some might find more helpful than mental health. Individuals who are able using the mental state terms. to construct their psychological wellbeing The performance attributes discussed by incorporating internally based previously promote a binary appraisal The M&WB Meter graphic includes general psychological coping resources, develop of mood, either good referred to as descriptions for TMS. These descriptions increased resilience to insulate their ‘thrive’ or bad referred to as ‘survive’. The support a more shared understanding of performance from unhelpful pressures and binary appraisal of mood, thrive-survive, the concepts that, in turn, facilitate the demands. inadvertently mirrors the appraisal of opportunity for increased understanding performance that exclusively uses outcome when one person communicates ‘how Dr Jonathan Katz is a consultant measures, resulting in an athlete either they’re feeling’ to another. Further, the TMS psychologist, registered with the Health feeling ‘great’ or ‘awful’. terms can be used as ‘shorthand’, which and Care Professionals Council (HCPC), makes the concepts portable and more a British Psychological Society (BPS) Minimising extremes in self-appraisal of readily available in time-sensitive moments Chartered Psychologist and is High mood facilitates a more stable, consistent such as during minute breaks in DE fights. Performance Accredited with and a Fellow and reliable sense of psychological of the British Association of Sport and wellbeing that widens one’s self-appraisal The M&WB Meter using the TMS model Exercise Sciences (BASES). If you would to integrate both internal psychological and supports the notion that mental wellbeing like to learn more about how he came emotional states with external behavioural relates to an appraisal of mood that is to work with the Athlete Development and outcome activities. It is this integration changeable and varies over time. For Programme and his extensive experience that encourages mood regulation and is athletes, this means that their mood in high performance sport you can read an represented by the THRIVE-MANAGE- and associated degree of wellbeing is interview with him on page 22.

July 2021 | 24 THE SWORD HIGH PERFORMANCE Development COACHES Who Are They? Steve Kemp - Head of Pathways

The High-Performance Coach. What do they look like? What behaviours do they exhibit?

These are two questions often posed to fencing coaches. To explore these questions, it’s worth briefly revisiting theories of learning and development. Steve Kemp Before I get started, I want to set out the context for this article. At a time when we might be on the verge of returning to something more normal, most clubs and coaches, quite rightly, are focussed The importance of revisiting learning theory is to recognise the on getting back to their regular sessions. I am there for you and learning situations and how that learning is driven by the coach, British Fencing will do what it can to advise, guide and support and this is driven by their known “self” - their self-awareness you however we can. This article may or may not be for you. The and self-management. This will be coupled to their Coaching audience I’m writing this for though is those with aspirations to Philosophy and underpinned by their values and beliefs. become coaches of the highest performers on the international stage. However, I hope there’s something in here for all of you. The role of a high-performance coach working with an athlete is the refinement of the athlete performance to meet the demand Readily available literature has multiple theories on learning and of the high-performance environment, compared to the pathway how adults learn best. It is important for coaches to understand coach who is helping develop the athlete to transition into the and recognise the types of learning situations - the “coach’s high-performance environment. To describe the High-Performance experience” - and how these relate to the complex and changing Coach; they have high levels of sporting intelligence and exhibit environment where coaches work? This can inform the balance of performance leadership, underpinned by knowledge of themselves learning and development opportunities in the learning journey of and their ability to manage successful interpersonal relationships. coaches. The behaviours that they exhibit will include: Types of Learning Situation 1. They are lifelong learners, constantly curious and exploring Mediated Formal :Coaching awards and ways of getting better. They spend significant time learning (Formal/Non-Formal) qualifications on the job. They know they are really good at some things Non-Formal: Workshops, Seminars and and are comfortable that they don’t know everything. They Communities of practice like experts around them and welcome the challenge and insight they bring. They have the confidence to embrace Unmediated learning Learning on the job change and let people grow. (Informal) Self-directed reflection 2. They are the predictors of the sport in the future. They are Internal Learning Self-reflection - reorganising what you agile to impacts such as rule changes. They develop insights know on how the game will be played and what the athlete will need to do in the future. To do this they are students of the Trudel and Gilbert (2013) mapped how the learning situations are sport - constantly building their knowledge of the sport, linked to the coaching contexts and the development of expertise. always looking to gain competitive advantage.

3. They are educators. They understand learning and the learning environment, with the needs to individualise those learning opportunities. That learning is often applied to themselves, using others to challenge their current thinking - sometimes confirming the thinking or causing a change in thinking and behaviour, otherwise known as “new learning”.

4. They are chameleons. They are very self-aware and seem to have an innate ability to read their situation or environment and respond in the most effective way to support and drive high performance. This most likely

July 2021 | 25 developed over a number of years of experience of being THE SWORD keen observers who think critically. Development

5. They are relentless. This is underpinned by a clear sense 5. 20-20 Vision. They have the ability to see into the future of purpose, coupled with high standards - an ‘all in’ and identify what needs to happen to be successful, commitment and a desire to win. simplifying complexity to recognise what is important to maximise resources, planning to win and sharing the 6. They are benevolent. Whilst they are driven in the pursuit roadmap. There is a clarity of purpose in the planning for of excellence, they are compassionate about the athletes, future competitions and events. the team that supports them and also themselves. They have a “people first” value and they continually seek to The benevolence required to achieve repeated medal success better understand the athletes and how they can be best consists of: supported. 1. A people-first approach. The high-performance coach puts Leave No Stone Unturned In The Right Way the person before the athlete, creating balance between the right challenges and support, protecting the interest The next section will explore what relentless and benevolent of the athlete’s individual needs whilst maintaining high means in multi-medal winning coaches. standards, driving levels of expectation and demand, retaining uncompromising desire for improvement and The relentless drive to find a way to achieve repeated medal victory combined with the highest respect for the welfare of success consists of: the athlete.

1. Unwavering high standards. Mistakes yes, blunders 2. Seeking to understand. They deeply care for the athlete, no! Leading by example, they are always thorough having taken the time to truly know the athlete, their and prepared. They know when to raise the level and hopes, fear, what drives them, and what drives them to when certain standards have been achieved. They learn push their bodies to the limits and beyond. Continually from failure quickly and effectively. They drive a high- seeking feedback from the athlete to check and challenge performance culture in all that they do. understanding. This coupled with empathy and shared leadership, demonstrably taking into account the athlete 2. An elevated sense of purpose and duty. They are proud views and the other professionals supporting the athlete. when representing a nation. They know and understand When tough decisions are required, the high-performance what they did is bigger than them. They understand that coach will take into account multiple points of view using whilst the coach will have many chances, the athlete who understanding, evidence and persuasion over imposition. has given years in pursuit of their dream may only have the one chance, which could be lost at any moment. 3. Tomorrow is another day. Learn from failure with a good level of optimism. Being tough-skinned enough to deal 3. A desire to win. As athletes they were competitors and with defeat, the arguments and disagreements whilst quite often for various reasons they have not achieved what maintaining emotions and composure, and to be able to put they set out to do. They have a sense of underachievement, aside personal emotions to support the athlete in times of an atonement to make up for past shortcomings and there stress. The ability to forgive and move on where necessary. is a need to prove themselves and that need drives them. All these factors are pulled together into a philosophy, typically 4. ‘All in’ commitment. A high-performance coach will be 100% humanistic and a set of strong values and beliefs which guide mentally and physically present in all they do. They commit informed decisions, linked to an internal compass. heart and soul to high performance whether they are planning and preparing, overseeing training or supporting at Like other high performing professions, the high-performing competitions. They deliver on all aspects of coaching, rather coach resides in a different environment - keeping grounded with than cherry picking the easy or fun parts of the job. They a sense of perspective, normality, and a positive work-life balance match the ‘all-in’ commitment levels of the multi-medal means that coach can achieve a level of longevity required to winning athlete. become a multi-medal winning coach.

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July 2021 | 26 THE SWORD CLUB SPOTLIGHT Community Crawley Sword Club By Luke Deamer

Crawley Sword Club: Stepping up to started meeting once a week on Zoom, the challenge of lockdown catching up over a drink and maintaining that club community. Crawley Sword Club is a 3-weapon community club in the southeast of In the second and third lockdown, we England, dating back to 1954. As a large realised the very real risk of Zoom fatigue. community club we welcome all ages Thankfully, we were overwhelmed with and abilities, from beginners to squad the number of volunteers that offered to members. With members aged from 9 to run sessions. Our own regular coaches 70, we faced many challenges engaging jumped in, with Ian Lichfield running video and supporting our fencers during the analysis sessions and Dave Buist leading COVID restrictions in 2020. Here’s a little bit some S&C sessions. Tim Buzwell ran some about our journey through the last year. footwork sessions and Andy Huckle, one of our club armourers, shared tips on blade Challenges of Crawley in lockdown maintenance. One of our juniors,Jamie Crawley and the local area were hit hard by Briggs, ran a fencing fundamentals session the pandemic. With 1 in 5 jobs in Crawley and Euan and I even branched out into ran nearly half of all our Zoom sessions depending on Gatwick airport, the town referee workshops for our members. between January and March, educating saw the highest increase in unemployment members on the RAMP warm up, as well in the UK last year, which affected a Similarly, we were incredibly fortunate as developing S&C sessions tailored to our number of our members. to welcome a number of special guests. fencers’ priorities. Our greatest turnout online was for Dr As a community club we rely on a great Jon Rhodes, who ran two sessions on To help promote all these online activities, network of parents and friends of Crawley the psychology of fencing. Laurence we increased our club communications, Sword Club to operate. Lockdown therefore Halsted also shared his journey through starting a club Instagram account and presented an obvious challenge to competitive fencing, with advice from the posting more on Facebook than usual. For engaging and supporting our wider club True Athlete Project. our less media savvy members, our club supporters. secretary Cheryl Deamer worked tirelessly, In our final lockdown, a big thank you sending out Zoom links and materials by Lockdown was also hard for our sister also has to go to George Morris. George email every week to all our members. club, Redhill and Reigate Epee Club. Despite being a very strong epee club, increasing venue costs meant they were forced to close. This meant Crawley Sword had to reach out and support a whole club, all without being able to meet in person.

Crawley Sword at Home

Like many clubs, when lockdown was announced we started online Zoom sessions. Stepping up to the plate, my brother Euan and I began running sessions twice a week. From footwork and reaction classes, to ‘beats per minute’ cardio and S&C sessions, we were able to provide fresh content on a weekly basis, all free of charge.

During lockdown our members also stepped up, sharing their creations of fencing targets and the ingenious ways of training with little space at home. The parents and friends of Crawley Sword also

July 2021 | 27 temperatures, sweeping the car park and THE SWORD Community marking out pistes all required a lot of work. With 30 fencers spread out across a car park, we also quickly found we needed multiple COVID and safeguarding officers to cover everyone.

With no full-time coaches, the club once again relied on an army of volunteers, doing everything from manning the car park barriers to setting out wipes for the equipment. Club armourers Teresa Innes and Andy Huckle returned to help set up and keep our kit working. Parents such as Dan Kew and Steve Elliott stepped in to help enforce COVID regulations. Even club ‘grandma’, Christine Evans, helped transport and store kit between sessions. risk assessment, we took a number of With the original outdoor sessions limited measures to improve COVID-security, to footwork only, Euan, Tim and I ran S&C such as temperature checks and creating and footwork sessions for each weapon. two separate waves of fencing pods. We Crawley Sword Outside Some of our members, like Oliver Pilgrim even decided to use badminton nets and and Mike Questier, also got the opportunity benches to physically prevent pod mixing. When outdoor fencing was permitted, to try their hand at taking a session under our committee spent a few long evenings the watchful eye of our coaches. We even Behind the scenes, a lot of time went deciding on the best direction for the recorded the outdoor sessions for those into preparing each session, particularly club. Cheryl approached lots of venues that were still shielding, so they could determining the 6-person pods. Ensuring for use of their playgrounds, car parks follow along at home. everyone had the ability to develop, to and outdoor spaces. After many failed mentor, and to be challenged meant attempts, the Hawth Theatre proved to be These outdoor sessions proved very redesigning the pods every time someone the breakthrough. With a large car park, popular. As one of the few clubs meeting dropped out. The current 15-person pods, barriers on the entry/exits, and just 5 outdoors in our area, we welcomed fencers negotiated by Sport England and British minutes’ drive from our indoor venue K2, from Horsham, Brighton and further afield. Fencing, have therefore made a massive it made the ideal place to set up the club. Even the local deer decided they wanted to difference. What’s more the Hawth offered this all for join in on a number of occasions! free, even turning the floodlights on in the The COVID tier system also left us juggling evenings to improve visibility! Back Indoors how we supported our members. Being so close to Kent, at one point we had members However, securing the venue was just Again, like many clubs, we couldn’t wait in 3 different tiers, each with their own the start. Managing sign ups, taking to get back indoors. After an extensive restrictions. We also faced a point where our juniors could fence, whilst our adults were restricted to indoor footwork. As a community club, the need to offer hybrid sessions really stretched our resources. Yet again though, we managed to coach our juniors, run footwork sessions and film the footwork for those in lockdown.

Crawley Sword’s Future

Clearly this last year has been hard. We’ve seen members suffer with COVID, face redundancy and suffer the isolation of lockdown. Yet this year also saw many people step up to the challenges of the COVID restrictions. As a community club, we would have really struggled without the ingenuity of our volunteers, the generosity of our local community and the willingness of so many to give up their time. A massive thank you to all those that have helped Crawley Sword develop through the year!

July 2021 | 28 THE SWORD THE MAKING OF UKC Education FENCING British Fencing’s University Club of the Year 2019/2020 Patrick Stillman - Former President

“Rome wasn’t built in a day” is a commonly used adage that refers to the need for time in the building of great things, and the success of the University of Kent’s Fencing Club (UKC Fencing) certainly didn’t come overnight. Rather, the winning of the University Club of the year is a reflection of the work that has gone into the club since 2016, through various cohorts, committees, and coaches, culminating in a season that personified the previous 5 years’ contributions to the development of the club in one final bow - before being abruptly ended by the Covid-19 pandemic last March. For the last year, as we’re all well aware, fencing has been very much on hold, and that has included University clubs. It’s likely that next year, many University clubs may find themselves almost back to square one and, ourselves included, in need of a rebuild. Every club will have its own challenges and hurdles to overcome when the new academic year starts, recruitment, coaching, funding, unfilled committee positions, to name a few, many of these occur year on year, but will be felt harder this year in light of the pandemic. So if you’re reading this article as a nervous incoming president of one of those clubs, a coach who works in cliques and teams. Secondly, you’re able to see the transition of HE fencing, or an alumnus who got into fencing at Uni and wants fencers between the ‘groups’; from novice, to intermediate, to to know how we’re doing, then I hope that I can provide some experienced. We’ve never been particularly lucky with recruiting inspiration when that process starts in September. experienced fencers as a club, and so our teams over the last few years have consistently been filled with members who joined I don’t want to focus too much on the specifics of what we the club as novices in our first year, including the women’s team worked on over the last few years, what works for one club won’t that made it to, and survived in, the Southern Premiership. What necessarily work for another, but there are a few areas that I do does this look like in practice though? To take an example from want to talk about which I think provide a more general idea of last year, the club always arranges transport and accommodation how we got to where we are today. The first of which is something for its members to go to competitions throughout the year. For of a “something for everyone” approach for members. This applies our experienced and some intermediate fencers, that was the across the board: coaching, training, matches, competition Welsh Open, for our intermediate and novice fencers, that was opportunities, as well as socials, trips, and events, should all the London Region Novice/Intermediate (which experienced consider how everyone can get involved, but still remaining fencers came and coached/reffed at) and for our Novices, the specific enough that everyone can still enjoy it. This is a tricky Warwick National Novice competition, where they were supported balance, but in getting that right you achieve two things: firstly, by intermediate fencers and committee members. In this, you everyone feels a part of the club, from novices to the international can see how the experienced members are able to not only feel athletes, it creates a “one club” ethos, not a club divided into that the club is supporting them by enabling them to go to big opens with their peers, but also that they are able to give some of that experience back into the club by assisting less experienced members at other events. Naturally, this culture takes a little while to bed down but is best facilitated by good social arrangements which ensure that everyone, regardless of ability, feels they’re a valued member and ingrained by an engaging and supportive committee, who act as examples of the expected behaviours by other members.

My second point surrounds the importance of maintaining a Growth Mindset year on year between committees - i.e. “whatever last year’s committee did, we can do better”. Uni clubs all over the country will have committees of different shapes and sizes,

July 2021 | 29 THE SWORD Education

but all with a common goal: to get people fencing. The Kent club has grown significantly over the last 5 years in terms of what we provide: from 2 to 4 teams, representation and medals at BUCS Individuals, competitions across the country from Warwick to Wales, refereeing and armoury courses for members to gain skills and confidence, bigger and better social events from formal dinners to movie and pizza nights, more fundraising, more members, more coaches and more training. All of which would’ve been impossible without the commitment of our committees over in many key ways. If these two principles are followed, grow your the years, and their desire to improve upon the foundations that offer year on year and ensure that as you grow, you’re including the previous committee laid down. For the committee at UKC, it everyone in that growth, pushing all your members to fill their wasn’t enough that the Women’s team made it into the Southern potential regardless of ability, then success will come. The most Prem. We ended up hosting the second weekend of fixtures at our important thing to remember is that building a club doesn’t come hall, to make sure that all our members got a chance to experience overnight, as I said at the start of this article, “Rome wasn’t built in it. It wasn’t enough to just do the fundraising for Movember, one a day”, but they were laying bricks every hour. of our committee got involved with the running of Movember on campus and pushed our club to raise over £1.5k. More. This second point is contingent on one key thing: Continuity. Trying to break that cycle of re-inventing the wheel every time the old committee graduate, by making sure that there are good and clear handovers for next year’s committee, and by making sure that all members are involved in some way in all things. As I suggested above, everyone in the club knows roughly what to expect and that knowledge, and, more importantly, culture, isn’t lost.

I think that these two points sum up nicely the work that UKC Fencing has put in over the last 5 years, and they certainly overlap

July 2021 | 30 THE SWORD KEITH SMITH (1962-2021) Obituary By Peter Jacobs

Former British Fencing president Keith subsequent implementation of a Corporate Smith has died from cancer at the age of Plan covering all aspects of fencing from 58. participation to performance. Meanwhile in response to new requirements to President from 2000 to 2012, he was a access public funding for sport, British leader of imagination with an infectious Fencing established a separate England enthusiasm that motivated those around Fencing entity (implemented in 2005) and him, enabling him to get the best out of formalised the relationships between BF willing teams of volunteers. Throwing and the Home Nations. himself into fencing organisation from an early age, he led British Fencing through The awarding to London of the 2012 Games a period of great change. He was an led to an explosion in government funding, outstanding competition organiser and a already increased six-fold from the World class referee. £60,000 of 2000 under Keith’s leadership, to a tightly controlled £1 million at its peak. An ‘Essex lad’, Keith was educated at Brentwood School. A pupil of Steve Boston, Finally, to meet with the governance he fenced in the England U18 foil team requirements of a public funded sport, BF’s and in 1980 won the Public Schools foil Board and executive structure was radically championship, coming second at epee altered, with from 2010 an independent and third in the sabre. He then went to chairman and a number of appointed facilitate visits that probably every other university in Birmingham to study History external directors providing additional contingent in the country could only dream and Politics, competing for the university experience and diversity, along with a about - on board a nuclear submarine and in a British Student team and fencing greater degree of delegated authority for and aircraft carriers, helicopter flights, for the West Midlands in the Winton Cup. the CEO and executive team. tank driving etc. He set up cadet force partnerships with two local maintained Keith’s extraordinary and infectious In 1985, with a BA Honours degree, Keith schools and he and a handful of senior energy and enthusiasm, his leadership and joined the history department of Whitgift regular officers formed an MOD working organising skills were essential in bringing School directly from university. He party on such partnerships with a highly British Fencing through this tumultuous remained there for the rest of his life, rising successful outcome. It was this project period. to become Head of History and Politics. that led to his deserved appointment as an A colleague has described his teaching MBE. He also linked up with the local youth as a tour de force. In his spare time, he offender team to provide activities using organised numerous trips, to countries the CCF and school facilities. ranging from the USA to Russia and many in between. It is difficult therefore to imagine how he could still find time for his immense As his career progressed Keith was for contribution to our sport - but somehow he a time a Housemaster and a Sixth Form did! While still at university he joined the Tutor, where he was able to contribute Public Schools Championships committee, significantly to boys’ well-being and establishing a connection that continued to guide them towards their chosen up to his death. From 1985 onwards he university. He also took on a role in the also served for periods on the Epée, Whitgift Benevolent Society committee, his International and Youth, Refereeing (of particular responsibility being to identify which he was chair), Rules and Under 20 those boys in need of financial support. Championships committees and Schools His nickname in later years of ‘Uncle Keith’ Fencing Union, and was elected to the BF shows the affection and respect that the Board in 1993. boys had for him, their understanding that he really cared for their welfare. In 2000 Keith was elected British Fencing President and went on to lead the He committed himself to the school’s organisation through twelve years of Combined Cadet Force, which he joined unprecedented change and growth. During in 1986, retiring in 2019 as a Lieutenant his presidency membership doubled and Colonel after some 14 years as its Team GB enjoyed international results not commander. Through force of personality, seen for nearly 40 years; but it was not an charm and sheer brass-neck he persuaded easy time to be in the role. On arrival Keith senior officers of all three services to launched immediately into preparation and July 2021 | 31 children’s events or the Senior European THE SWORD Championships (in Sheffield in 2011) and Obituary World Junior Cadet Championships (in Belfast in 2009) - these last two made possible by funding opportunities that he grasped arising from the awarding of the Games to London. Somehow there was no shortage of volunteer helpers with Keith and he remembered to thank them all at the end. At the 2004 Olympic qualifying competition in Ghent, the Belgian theoretically in charge essentially grabbed Keith and said to him, “You’re running the competition for me”. British Championships were redesigned at each level into combined events over one weekend, resulting in much bigger entries. Many FIE World Cups were staged at Whitgift, with the kind support of the headmaster. pressures on him and in such a manner that the fencers did not try to argue with He was an outstanding referee, officiating him. I recall, after a men’s foil World Junior at épée finals at three Olympics - Barcelona Championships gold medal bout, the His down-to-earth friendliness, 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000; and loser proceeded to vent his frustration by accessibility and ability to motivate people at every World Championships from 1990 attacking the scoring apparatus with his earned him the loyalty of the staff in the until 2000, when he was ‘kicked upstairs’, weapon. Keith, FIE Refereeing Delegate, office; and it facilitated everyone’s efforts to the FIE’s Refereeing Commission, acting awarded a black card. The ensuing ruckus to implement all these changes and to as a refereeing delegate at the 2008 lasted so long that the medal presentation encourage activities at county, regional and 2012 Games. He also officiated at was postponed until the following evening. and home country levels, on all of which he numerous Junior/Cadet World and Zonal Despite immense pressure to withdraw the expended much effort - indeed, his energy Championships, World Cups, Grand Prix card Keith, absolutely correctly, stuck to his was phenomenal, he was once accused of events and several Universiades. guns. having a twin because “he seemed to be everywhere”! His sense of fun and ability to It was at Barcelona that he met Karina He strove to establish a cadre of British entertain with fencing anecdotes happily Hoskyns, daughter of the 1958 World Epée top class FIE referees to follow in his oiled the wheels of all this activity. Champion, who was the FIE photographer. footsteps, helping and supporting those They were married in 1994. already qualified, seeking new candidates As the lead representative of Great Britain and working to improve the entire British internationally he was a tremendous His refereeing and role as a delegate were refereeing ‘pyramid’; and warm relations strength. His networking skills, coupled renowned for their authoritativeness and were established with the BAF. with his other attributes and his unflinching integrity. He seemed always in complete support for all British post-holders, as control of the bouts irrespective of the His leadership was leavened by sociability candidates and in office, ensured that and by evident care for the people involved. Britain was over-represented in the FIE At home or abroad, he always joined in the and European Fencing Union (EFC). I quote after hours’ socialising, helping maintain one post-holder “I wouldn’t be on my FIE the best of relations and motivating commission without his support. He was everyone, sometimes involving very late always seeing the potential in people and hours - and ‘a few lemonades’, as he would went out of his way to help them achieve say. it”. He himself, as well as being a member of the FIE Refereeing Commission from At the British Fencing AGM in 2005 Bobby 2000 to 2012, stood for the presidency of Winton, then aged 90 and joint presenter the EFC in 2005. He was only defeated, of the Winton Cup with his brother Sir by Alisher Usmanov, by the narrowest of Nicholas Winton, stated that Keith was margins; and he did become a member of “one of the best presidents he had known its Executive Committee - and indeed was in 70 years”. its vice-president. In 2012 Keith stood down from the His competition organising was a tour-de- presidency to devote more time to his force, preparing thoroughly, excellently career, his family and serving his local organising on the day, using carrots rather community. He was awarded British than sticks, with an injection of humour Fencing’s gold medal and honoured with wherever possible, be the events local the role of British Fencing Vice-President.

July 2021 | 32 THE SWORD BARBARA PAUL 1936-2021 Obituary Linda McMahon

Barbara Paul passed away peacefully at Thus, Barbara’s legacy lives on in the Leon her home in Highgate on the 2nd March Paul Junior Series (LPJS), perhaps not 2021. Born on the 18th November 1936, she in the same format but in its continued was the only child of Betty Comyns and development of children’s fencing and Glynn Jones but aged only two, tragedy where she brought her own quiet but struck the family when her father was hugely significant contribution to fencing killed. as a whole.

This must have been heartbreaking, and On a personal level, my own enduring growing up without him, she developed memory of Barbara was her warmth, a close bond with her mother who never generosity and determination to make all married again. welcome into the Paul household, often at one of her and Raymond’s wacky New On her marriage to Raymond Paul, she Year’s Day open house parties in Highgate, became part of the most influential where one would find the ‘who’s who’ of fencing family Britain has seen. Leon Paul, fencing plus neighbours, children and a renowned fencing master pre and post number of dogs. Second World War was also founder of the Leon Paul Equipment Company in 1921 And finally, Clare Halsted sums up her and later Salle Paul Fencing Club. Sons which had to be tucked up and long foils. own memory, “She was part of my fencing Raymond and Rene were both Olympians, Raymond’s photos were pinned up in the life from those early heady days with the as well as their sons Barry, Graham and New North Street shop for years.” GBR squad. I saw her as a calm, caring Steven. If this did not faze her, perhaps presence in the background balancing all inheriting three step-children - Steven, The seed was planted. Raymond, through the excitement and stress of competitive Dani and Charlie - may have. ‘A challenge’ the company, offered financial support fencing.” is how they were described by Charlie, and Barbara put together the format and affectionately, at her funeral on the 14th gathered the necessary personnel to run “She was an inspiring role model within April but all grew in mutual admiration over the events which started with just two the development of the LPJS, always the coming years. in Eton and London. This was a sea- clear about the need for it to be fun and change-moment for British Fencing; a bold nurturing. And then of course her legendary Barbara will be remembered, particularly statement perhaps but this spawned the hospitality and memorable New Year by the multitude of children, parents, idea that developing children’s fencing parties, together with Raymond, full of coaches and helpers who turned up in would likely have a knock-on effect and in laughter and the all-important fun.” the early days of the Leon Paul Series of the long-term, provide a rich pool of cadet, children’s competitions but few will have junior and senior fencers. Ben Paul, Director of Leon Paul added, realised how these events came to be. “Barbara’s legacy lives on in the Leon Paul However, Barbara had trained as a Junior Series (LPJS), which she started in It was one day in 1986, after Allan Skipp, teacher and her knowledge was such 1986 with a couple of foil competitions Ziemek Wojciechowski and Frank Charnock that she knew the importance of fun, in London. Back then, there were simply had already established their own fencing encouragement, competition and reward no competitions for young fencers and classes for children that, as Allan recalls, in that order, if children were to want to Barbara wanted to address this. Thirty “Tomek Walicki brought a team from Pauls come back. This was her philosophy for years later the LPJS involves events all over and Raymond and Barbara came to collect how the events were to be managed. Her the UK in all three weapons. It has become their young daughter, Anise, on Saturday aim was for every child to go away having the mainstream introduction to competitive afternoon and both wandered around the had a positive experience; fencing at an fencing for nearly all youngsters. During the hall; both with their mouths open and appropriate level, meeting new friends and last 5 years there have been 15,000 entries Raymond clicking away with his camera. leaving with a small present. into hundreds of different events. Most He later said that he never thought he fencers in the UK start their competitive would see anything like that in this country. Adding to the fun, Allan Skipp again recalled experience at an LPJS competition.Thus, They came back on Sunday just to watch that, “Barbara was a great supporter of Barbara made her own quiet but hugely little kids fencing with their dad’s lames ‘Boris’ the Leon Paul reaction tester, and significant contribution to fencing.” she was to be seen with Boris at many fencing events where she ensured that all Barbara leaves daughter Anise and partner who had a go, and those watching, went Sam, grand-daughter Iris and step children, away with ‘I Love Fencing’ stickers.” Dani and Charlie.

July 2021 | 33 THE SWORD CONNIE ADAM 1927-2021 Obituary Peter Gallop

Norfolk fencer Connie Adam died was employed as a chauffeur to the Lord equal right to inherit the title and privileges peacefully aged 94 on 8 April. Lieutenant of Norfolk and accompanied of Freemen as were sons. For many years him on many royal/official assignments. she undertook a lonely vigil whenever the Connie was a charismatic individual who Her driving skills were acknowledged when City Council were meeting. She stood in all chose to take up fencing at the tender age she featured in a TV programme focussing weathers on the steps of City Hall with her of 60 having given a local education session on the driving abilities of older drivers. placard. She gained the support of some a try. This was the start of an unexpected She impressed her instructor so much that local officials and gradually other women new era in her life which took her around he commented he would be willing to be joined the cause. Eventually they were the world and lasted until she retired from driven anywhere by her. She once described successful. Connie with the surname Adam the sport in 2019. Her main reason being herself as having done nothing up to the was first in line to be inaugurated becoming that it was becoming increasingly difficult age of 40 and then “sort of went berserk” the first woman Freeman of Norwich. to manage the portering of her fencing declaring “I’m a recycled teenager”. equipment. Connie took every opportunity to Given her activities and personality Connie participate in local competitions, but She was always willing to look for new was a local celebrity and publicity machine her vast medal collection came from her challenges and developed an active in so far as fencing was concerned. It is involvement with British Veterans, and it social life. She was a successful ballroom difficult to get the local media interested was with this organisation she travelled dancer/tutor, a self-taught skier, and keen in fencing at the best of times but not the world. Her main weapons were the badminton player. For many years she when it involved Connie, as the club’s epee and sabre with which she was willing press clippings show. Given her sporting to take on any within her age categories. profile she was often called upon by It was reported on one occasion in ‘The local organisations to inspire others to Sword’ 1999, that she was asked to keep active. She was always willing to withdraw from the younger age category put in an appearance in full kit and give a in case she embarrassed the other younger demonstration. Her slogan when speaking participants by winning. Her dedication to groups, including schools was “never to the sport was illustrated when she give up”. underwent surgery for knee replacements. She persuaded her surgeon to do both She gained recognition for her at the same time, not something he was achievements and was voted Inspirational accustomed to doing, because she wanted Sportswoman of the Year and was also to get fit for a forthcoming international named ‘Sports Girl of the Year’ by The fencing competition. Needless to say, Sportspark at the University of East Anglia, she achieved this. Whilst her mobility as part of their ‘This Girl Can’ campaign. reduced, she maintained good hand-eye To cap this, she was selected to carry the coordination and her parry ripostes were London 2012 Olympic torch during the not to be underestimated. parade through Norwich. Norfolk and fencing have lost one of its Her irrepressible determination came to inspirational characters but her spirit will the fore when she decided that it was live on amongst those who have known unfair that daughters were not given the her.

Editor’s Note

It has come to our attention that the book which was reviewed in the January 2021 edition of The Sword, “Winning at Epee” by Robin Catling, contained material that is subject to claims that it was taken from a previous publication without reference or permission and that the book is no longer available from the publisher.

July 2021 | 34 #SUPPORTINGTEAMMARCUS How To Get Involved

With no foreign spectators allowed at this - Stick mugshot to card and make a hole Olympic Games we want to make sure that near each ear Marcus knows we’re all behind him. This - Use string or elastic to attached to your issue of The Sword Magazine features a head special back page designed to make that - Take the most interesting photo, easy! showing your support - Post on Insta including What fencing magazine would be complete #SupportingTeamMarcus without a build-your-own-mask guide?! - When you’re done with your mask, That’s right! We want you to make a dispose of it responsibly! Marcus mask, put it on and take a snap, on your own, with your mates, family, club or BF will compile all of the photos into an with anyone in fact. album to share on social media in the days before Marcus competes. Instructions: We can’t wait to see what you come up - Print off the back page - in colour if with to share with Marcus. Of course there possible are no prizes but you never know, the - Cut out the mugshot of Marcus Editor might post one or two in the next - Recycle your old cereal box and create a issue! backing for your mask (Top tip: Cut a bit of extra card on either side of his ears!)

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