Self-eliminations and shiny silver for IC Fencing

Valentine’s Day: 22 fencers, 6 competitions, 4 Imperial self-eliminations, 3 days, and 1 silver medal!

On the evening of Valentine’s, while most people were with loved ones, 9 fencers set off to Sheffield to show their love of fencing. They were attending BUCS Individuals where university fencers compete in an individual competition to determine the best fencers in the country.

The first day of the competition was Men’s Epee and Women’s Sabre, and after winning a bronze medal last year in the Epee we had high hopes this year. After a mixed set of results in the poules the first self-elimination arose - Filip had drawn Louis in the round of 128. Filip won the bout 15-8 and proceeded to come 16th overall.

Another self-elimination was on the horizon as James (last year’s bronze medallist) fenced our strongest epeeist Harry in the round of 32. The bout finished 15-8 to Harry who finished in 6th. Meanwhile in Women’s Sabre, Fran (an epeeist by training), was progressing very well in her second weapon, finishing 13th overall. The remaining fencers joined everyone in Sheffield that night with many enjoying some excellent competition preparation with a night out in Sheffield…

The second day saw the Women’s Foilists and Men’s Sabreurs compete. A tough round of poules lead to our 3rd self-elimination when Michael faced Filip in the round of 128. Filip, possibly still inebriated, managed to win the very close match with a final score of 13-15. Filip won the next round as well after a quick nap, finishing 32nd overall.

Women’s foil had only two entrants from Imperial - one unfortunately didn’t make it past the group stage but Ailsa, unencumbered by the thought of having to fence an Imperial student, fenced a strong last 32 match before finishing 14th, being knocked out by the eventual winner.

The third day was our final chance of medals in Men’s Foil and Women’s Epee. During the poules, Aaron, our best foilist, only conceded 2 hits (and scored 25) ranking 2nd going into the direct elimination round. This led to the 4th Imperial self-elimination of the weekend as Peter ranked 63rd faced Aaron in the round of 64 - Aaron won the bout 15-3.

In the Women’s Epee, both Rocío and Fran got to the last 16 but were knocked out in closely fought matches with Rocío finishing highest in 10th place.

Back to Men’s Foil and all other Imperial fencers were out, meaning Aaron was our last hope of a medal. A very close quarter final bout saw Aaron come back from 10-13 down to win 15-14, followed by a more straight forward semi-final win, guaranteeing himself a silver medal. The final was close fought to start, but 3 minutes in, Aaron’s cramp caught up with him and a brief medical break was required. He fought on valiantly but after a long tough day, gained second place. losing the final 15-9.

Despite some unlucky draws and tough matches, the fencers should be proud of their fencing and their fantastic support and coaching of each other. Returning a silver medal was an excellent end to the weekend, and a result to beat next year!