On Saturday 21st May, 13 of Aldwickbury’s fencers made the 228 mile round trip to Millfield School in Somerset to represent the school at the annual IAPS National Fencing Championships. After a long journey, which included a brief sight-seeing flyby of the ancient Stonehenge the boys arrived excited and eager to test their skills against fencers from across the country. The format of the event was such that each boy would have ten bouts before being seeded and entering the knock-out stages, this included fencing both boys and girls and was a good test of the boys’ ability and stamina, as the pool stages took place throughout the afternoon.
In the U11 knock-out stages, Aldwickbury fencers worked hard to gain favourable draws and with 8 fencers in the running, they did exceptionally well to get so many into the quarter-finals. Cheered on by their team-mates Bennet, Ted and Bobby all made it to the semi-finals, guaranteeing the school at least a second-placed finish. These bouts led to Ted and Bobby facing off in the final with Bobby narrowly coming out on top against his teammate and resulting in Aldwickbury taking a 1, 2 and 3 in the event. Congratulations must go out to these three, what a fantastic achievement!
In the U13 event, the boys weren’t so lucky with their draws and after the round of 16, the school only had one remaining fencer in the competition. Ben produced some excellent fencing to comfortably book himself a place in the final against another local boy from Beechwood Park School. This was the last bout of the day and with the excitable crowed watching on Ben held his nerve and was crowned champion.
It was a hugely successful day for the school and all of the fencers who attended did an incredible job, not only with their fencing, but also being wonderful ambassadors for the school. We look forward to continuing to grow fencing at Aldwickbury and of course, returning next year to challenge for the title once again.
Aldwickbury Fencers: U14- Ben, Euan, Anthony, George, Zak U11- Charlie, Hector, Ted, Bobby, Elijah, Bennett, Aran & Elnathan.
