St Benedict’s Fencers on the National Stage

Published on isbi School News dated Monday 8th of June 2015

Four fencers from St Benedict’s qualified to represent London in the British Youth Championships held in Sheffield during the weekend of 2nd/ 3rd May, the school’s best entry so far. The most outstanding result came from Douggie Ashby (Year 10) who finished in 2nd place out of 62 competitors in the U16 Boys Foil. Ashby entered the knock-out rounds ranked 20th overall, after a tough pool. He then soon got into his stride, seeing off opponent after opponent convincingly until the final. Two wins by 15-4 against fencers from the South East and Southern regions were followed by a much harder fought 15-13 victory over a representative from Eastern region, which saw him into the quarter-finals. He won his next fight 15-7 against an opponent from South West region and in the semi-final overcame the North West representative by 15-11. Exhaustion and experience played their part in the final as Ashby lost 6-15 to an Eastern region fencer a year his senior, which has a great effect in competitive terms. The Junior School Fencing Captain, Angelica Lawson (Year 6) competed in the U12 Girls’ Foil. It was her first major national competition and she fenced very well to finish in 29th place, competing against several opponents who were more experienced. In the direct eliminations, after winning 10-4 against a higher-ranked fencer from the South East region, Lawson was then unlucky to meet the Eastern region fencer ranked 3rd and was knocked out 3-10. Her opponent went on to win the championship by 10-0 in the final, which put Lawson’s performance in a very good light. David Hope and Adam Aubeelack (Year 12), in the U18 Foil and Epee respectively, took wins in their pools to finish 40th in each event. Denis Cranwell, Head of Fencing at St Benedict’s, said: “The St Benedict’s fencers are really making waves in all the competitions they enter. The experience they are gaining with each event is helping them build their ability and confidence and the mutual support they give each other lays the foundation for individual success, such as that achieved by Douggie and Angelica.”