October 2011 £5.00 October 2011 £5.00 New Series No.101 October 2011 Front Cover: Bolade Apithy (FRA) launches an attack against Gyorgi Szilagyi (HUN) in the semi-finalsofthe European men’ssabre championship [Getty Images] FENCING NEWS 5 LONDON 2012 ORGANISATION 10 Malcolm Fare talks to Olympic and Paralympic Games fencing manager Hilary Philbin about the organisation of London 2012 1BaronʼsGate, 33 Rothschild Road, London W4 5HT,Tel: 0208 742 3032, LONDON 2012 UPDATE14 Fax: 0208 742 3033. Website: http//www.BritishFencing.com Hilary Philbin explains the build up to the Games e-mail: [email protected] President: Keith Smith Chief Executive: Piers Martin EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 16 Chairman: David Teasdale Malcolm Fare reports on the first European championships to be held in Britain Editor: Malcolm Fare NATIONAL SOCIALISM AND FENCING 32 Pyndar Lodge, Hanley Swan, Worcs WR8 0DN Mark Barton and David Hall look at the fascination of 20th century right-wing Tel: 01684 311197 leaders with fencing Fax: 01684 311250 email: [email protected] LETTERS 35 Print and Layout: Warwick Printing Co Ltd Caswell Road, Leamington Spa, REVIEWS 39 Warwickshire. CV31 1QD Tel: 01926 883355 London Olympics 1908 and 1948 by Janie Hampton; Fencing/Escrime/Fechten Fax: 01926 883575 by Serge Timacheff and Giovanni Minozzi Advertising: BFA Tel: 0208 742 3032 ROUND-UP 40 Email: [email protected] Marsh &Benney,Merseyside Open, Haverstock training camp,Club News British Fencing accepts no responsibility for the contents of advertisements and reserves the right to refuse inclusion. YOUNG FENCER 43 UK School Games,Refereeing course,Coach moves on The Sword,aquarterly magazine founded in 1948, is distributed to all individual and club members of British Fencing and its affiliates. It can also be RESULTS 46 obtained on subscription –UK£20 Overseas airmail £26 –direct from HQ. Contributions are welcome. Photographs should includethe names of those pictured and the photographer. Views expressed in The Sword do not Next deadline: 21 November necessarily reflect those of British Fencing. No part of the magazine may be reproduced without permission from The the editor/photographer. SWORD 3 Fencing News CHAIRMAN’S How are we doing? It’swell known that BFAhas been short of ‘Green’ in the recent past. Lower rankings are dangerous for us; REPORT they mean much reduced funding and thus little chance of hitting Grow or Gold. We are making progress.I’m confident the next How do Istart my first report in January will carry good tidings.The same for Grow, Chairman’sreport? I where we are about to try new ways to boost demand for fencing. guess,bysaying what I plan to do with this TheGold agenda has created controversy over selection policy. column. So,onbehalf of Nothing new there,you might say –everyone’saselector! The the Board, this report will Board endorsed the Action Plan of our new Performance Manager, deal with current and big Alex Newton, which encompassed aselection policy based on issues affecting our picking for the world championships ateam with genuine management of the sport and potential, if smaller than in the past. Theaim is gold, in 2012 the progress against the key and/or 2016. Some critics think we are aiming too high, we are objectives. unrealistic. Maybe we are.But, for the first time,weare giving our top fencers world-class support; some won’t come through, but By now,you all know we have a3Gstrategy.This means Green – some will be trained and motivated to perform at new levels. to be an effective governing body,operating fairly and properly, Some critics would takelots of fencers to big events.That isn’t the meeting the governance standards now applying to the governing Board’spolicy.Wewant to concentrate resources on fencers in bodies of all UK sports; Grow –toget more people fencing, more epee,foil or sabre who have real world-class potential. often; and Gold –towin the right colour medals at Olympic Games. One last thing –this BF Board runs atransparent house.Ifyou have comments,ideas,complaints,questions,let us hear them.We These are not new targets.They are not different from most sports. are ever open to opinion, argument, even approval! My own But what’snew and different is we have aclear direction, with mobile number is below. clear focus –and this strategy provides very clear ways for David Teasdale members to judge our performance. Chair,British Fencing 07803 891623 TEAM SELECTION HONOURS TheBoard has given Alex Newton responsibility for selection and for TheBFA Honours Committee has awarded the following honours: this year’sworld championships she has followed the current Silver Medal –Philip Marsh, Ismay &Steve Cowen selection policy.Tobeeligible for automatic selection, individual Bronze Medal –John Anderson, Chris Howser,Brian Matless, fencers had to achieve at least one L8 or two L16 results from World Lynden Taylor Cups or the most recent world/European championships,and teams AwardofMerit –Beth Davidson, Graham Langton, Ken had to be in the top 12 of the world cup team rankings –all in the McCubbin, Tim O’Conor,Shirley Parker 12 months prior to the selection date. Goblet –Sue Benney Tankard –Kristjan Archer,RichardKruse,Men’sFoil Team (Richard Based on the 3G strategy,she selected the following for the 2011 Kruse,Laurence Halsted, Ed Jefferies,Marcus Mepstead +Ziemek world championships in Catania, 9-16 October: Wojciechowski),Junior Men’sFoil Team (James Davis,Jamie Men’sFoil –RichardKruse,Laurence Halsted &Team (RK, LH, Fitzgerald, Husayn Rosowsky,Alex Tofalides +Maciej Wojtkowiak) Jamie Kenber,EdJefferies; James Davis reserve) Women’sFoil Team –Anna Bentley,Martina Emanuel, Natalia Sheppard, Sophie Troiano; ClaireBennett reserve Women’sEpee –Corinna Lawrence; Mary Cohen reserve Men’sSabre –James Honeybone,Alex O’Connell Women’sSabre –Chrystall Nicoll, Sophie Williams &Team (CN, SW,Louise Bond-Williams,Joanna Hutchison; Katherine Kempe reserve) Fencing is one of the sports After appeals,the following were added: featured in the last of three Men’sEpee –Jon Willis sets of ten Olympic stamps Women’sEpee Team –CL, Sissi Albini, Jenny McGeever, Georgina issued by the Royal Mail. Usher Designed by British artist Lyndon Hayes, it is one of Junior epee world champion Philip Marsh will join the British team as 30 stamps marking the fact an observer and sparring partner for Jon Willis. that this is the 30th Olympiad. The SWORD 5 Fencing News ENGINEERING PRIZE FOR FENCING ‘community’, in this case ahigh profile group of athletes CENTRE and engineers. Students from Penair School in Truro have beaten 200 Theteam’sdesign for aCornwall National Fencing Centre other teams from across the UK to win an engineering costing £2.5m featured aflexible grid-shell roof and prize with their innovative proposal for anational fencing factored in plans to use rainwater for the stadium’s centre.Create Sport, acompetition run by the Institution of facilities,including showers and flushing toilets,aswell as Civil Engineers,consulting engineers Arup and the solar energy to power the venue.Local fencer James Engineering Development Trust, challenged 12-13 year olds Honeybone advised on the centre’sspecification. across the country to plan, design and construct amodel for anew sports venue in their region. Proposals had to Theproject waspart ofTruro Fencing Club’scontinuing initiative takeinto account all the engineering considerations of a to involve young fencers and parents in the development of real life project, such as environmental and community fencing in Cornwall. Since beginning fundraising in 2006, impact, planning and safety requirements.The team from the TFC Gold Foundation has raised almost £300,000, Truro triumphed in the final mock public inquiry where money that is used to fund aSabre Performance Programme they were required to defend their project to the and develop plans to build atop-class fencing facility. Penair students with amodel of their design for aCornwall National Fencing Centre Janet Huggins became the 16th recipient of Salle Joseph’s Hebden Cup at an award ceremony held before the Modern Pentathlon test event for London 2012 at Crystal Palace. The Cup, which seeks to recognise “services to fencing”, was presented to her by the Salle’s president Joe Gibbons for her outstanding contribution to the sport both as acoach and as an armourer of some repute. Janet is pictured with her fellow armourers: (from left) David Lichfield, Simon Axon, Rob Kirby and Peter Huggins. The 6 SWORD Fencing News DURHAM OPENS PURPOSE-BUILT 19th century German Korbschlager SALLE Following John McGrath’s’ excellent article on Student Duelling in Heidelberg in the January issue,readers may After 8years planning, Durham University’spurpose- be interested in the following acquisition. Arare 19th built fencing salle opens officially in October.Part of the century Korbschlager,the weapon used by German University’sGraham Sports Centre at Maiden Castle in student fighting fraternities in the ritualised duelling Durham City,the eight-piste (four metal) salle has encounter known as the Mensur,was found in aWest wall-mounted scoring equipment and is fully air- Country auction. Catalogued as an 18th/19th century conditioned. practice sword with blunted end a/f (as found), which in auctioneers’ speak means it wasindamaged or poor Head coach Laszlo Jakab will direct the new programme condition, the sword has adiamond shaped 34-inch blade for student teams and the Regional Fencing Centre,which and alarge felt covered basket guard complete with offers weapon-specific training for performance fencers, original grip and leather finger loop.Some sympathetic coach development and beginners’ courses for all. Prof. restoration wasrequired as the felt wasdetached in parts, Jakab said, “This is agreat opportunity for fencing in the the shagreen grip loose and the blade covered in rust. Region. We now have an environment which is only about Cleaning revealed the maker’smark stamped on the fencing, with no limitation in the training and preparation ricasso –aknight’shead, which wasused by Carl of our best fencers.” Reinhard Kirschbaum (1814-1862) of Solingen.