Mixed fortunes for Swords

Six members of Wellington Swords made the trip to the English institute of Sport in Sheffield for the British National Championships. 

In the Individual Women's Epee both Sarah and Sophie Townsend made it through to the last 64 however Bryony Wedge-Thomas had a tough pool and was unable to secure sufficient victories to make the cut into the direct elimination.

In the Individual Men's Epee Ben Hodgson met Bath University fencer, Matt Edgar, in the first round of the direct elimination. It was a close fight which was eventually won by Matt.

Meanwhile Chris Hay fought well in the pools and secured a seeding which gave him a bye into the second round of the direct elimination. 

He continued with wins against Daniel Wood of Tameside and James Hogarth of Haverstock before losing out 14/15 to Philip Marsh of Bath Swords to settle for 12th place. This result has moved Chris to 30th on the Senior National Rankings.

Ben and Chris were joined on the following day by Luke Edbrook and together they competed in the British Men's Epee Team Championships finishing a creditable 13th.

Photo:  Wellington Swords Men's Epee Team. L to R. Luke Edbrook, Chris Hay, Ben Hodgson.

Staff changes at the PRSC

The new academic year will also herald some changes at the Princess Royal Sports Complex.

After seven and a half years as manager of the Sports Complex, JJ Rowland, is moving on to a fresh challenge overseas.

From the beginning of September JJ is to join the marketing arm of the European Handball Federation based in Vienna, Austria.

Mark Vaughan, current assistant manager, will step up to be acting manager, while Wellington School consider recruitment options.

For further information, contact Mark Vaughan at vaughan@wellington-sport.org.uk.

Gundry wins English youth championship

Four of the younger members of Wellington Swords travelled to Hatfield last weekend for the English Youth Fencing Championships. 

The team were young and inexperienced, the venue was huge and there were 600 competitors. They returned with fantastic results:  1 champion and 3 in the last 16.  

Jessica Gundry won the 2009 English Youth Girls under 13 Epee. Her performance in the poules gave her a head start into the direct elimination phase. 

She maintained this through the next four fights, beating her previous nemesis, Francesca Summers of Redhill and Reigate, to take the epee title. 

In the Foil competitions the youngest team member, Robson Alexander, overcame his initial nerves to finish a very creditable 11th in U11 Boys Foil.

Jade Clarke achieved 10th, with Jess Gundry 16th in the girls U13 foil. Daniel Willson's 21st place in the U15's Boys foil was a disappointment for him but not unexpected after a year of ill health.

School sports conference held in Wellington

The Tone Schools Sports Partnership held their sports conference at the Princess Royal Sports Complex on Thursday 9 July.

The Top Link conference saw over 100 local children and coaches take apart in a variety of activities throughout the day, all designed to develop them as young sports leaders.

New Zealand Paralympian, Tim Prendergast, was the guest speaker at the conference and talked about his experiences as an elite Paralympian and captain of the New Zealand Paralympic team in Beijing in 2008.

The next Tone Schools Sports Partnership conference will be held at the Princess Royal Sports Complex in March 2010.

Bronze to battling Bryony

Wellington Swords fencer Bryony Wedge-Thomas competed in the Manchester Open on 11 July and came a proud third. 

She lost to Louise Highton, who is twelfth in the senior national rankings. 

It was a close and long semi-final, and was eight all when Highton just managed to slip ahead, making the final score a near 15-12. 

Wellington fencers wins Oxfam Open

Ben Hodgson from Wellington Swords won the Oxfam Open 30/31 May 2009.

This was a senior national  ranking competition held in Cardiff to raise money for Oxfam. 

Ben fought well in the poules and made good progress through the early rounds of the direct elimination until he met James Taylor in the semi finals. Here Ben scored a significant victory over James who is ranked GB no.4. 

He then went on to beat Howard West, from London Thames Fencing Club, in the final.

Other Swords results; 10th Chris Hay, 29th Nick Clapham and 37th Raoul Wedge-Thomas.  

SW success for Wellington Fencers

On 6 and 7 June Wellington Swords hosted the South West's Senior Fencing Championships at the Princess Royal Sports Complex.

The men's and women's Epee took place on Saturday and the Foil and Sabre on Sunday.

 

It proved to be a successful weekend for Swords members who won two of the Championship classes and were second in two others.

 

On Saturday Chris Hay won the Men's Epee title. 

He fought a close and  exciting  semi final winning 15/14 against last years winner and fellow club member Ben Hodgson. 

He then went on to fence Bill Osbaldeston from Truro in the final. Bill is a former National Champion and member of this years Veterans  (40+) World Championship team. 

This was a match of youth against experience and 17 yr old Chris fenced well to clinch victory in the final 15/9.  

 

In the women's Epee club members, Sarah Townsend and Jenny McGeever, met in the sem-finals. 

This was a close match with Jenny winning through 15/14 and going on to meet Toni Denham from Plymouth in the final. On this occasion Toni was the victor winning the trophy for a second year.

 

On Sunday Maggie Myers gave the club a second championship win when she cruised to victory in the Women's Foil final against Angela Findlay of Sidmouth Fencing Club. 

Matt Mackenzie hoped to repeat last years success in the Men's Foil but was unlucky to lose to Tim Miles from Bath Swords in a stirring final.

 

Wellington Swords results; Women's Foil 1st Maggie Myers. Women's Epee 2nd Jenny McGeever. 3rd Sarah Townsend. 7th Bryony Wedge-Thomas. 9th Tyla Elworthy. Men's Foil. 2nd Matt MacKenzie 3rd Alan Large. Men's Epee. 1st Chris Hay. 3rd Ben Hodgson. 8th Raoul Wedge-Thomas. 10th Jim Pilkington. 11th Luke Edbrook. 12th Joseph Bonner. 14th Nick Clapham. 15th Jack Edmunds. 21st Nick Dugmore. 22nd Peter Smith 23rd Carlson Tsui. 25th Julian Cheung

 

Photo L to R Maggie Myers and Chris Hay with their trophies.