Representing Scotland, RTWFC’s Eilidh Paterson, 15, returned from the Youth Commonwealth Games in New Zealand in July with an impressive personal medal tally of three medals – and 16-year-old team-mate Andrea Ross bagged a brace.

Eilidh completed her set with a bronze in the Junior (U20) team epee event alongside Andrea, but it was securing the other two medals that proved to be the most eyebrow-raising.

Medal number two was won in the Junior individual event, where Eilidh was up to five years younger than some of her opponents. She scored four wins in the poules, then clocked up two 15-8 wins then an excellent 15-12 victory in the quarters against an in-form fencer to secure her medal.

But it was in the Cadet (U17) team event that Eilidh engineered one of the great fencing comebacks. With her team – which included Andrea – trailing 40-31 going into the final leg of the quarter final against a strong Australian trio, Eilidh lit the blue touch paper to rocket back to 43-43 by the end of regulation time. Cue a priority minute, then cue pandemonium as Eilidh scored the final hit and the whole Scottish team went into orbit somewhere over the city of Christchurch.

Commenting on Instagram, Eilidh reflected on her Commonwealth experience as follows: “The comeback, not only in the team event, but from the shaky start in the poules, was nerve-wracking but definitely worth it for the reward. I’m extremely happy with my results.”

Eilidh’s fireworks have earned her a new nickname: ‘The Comeback Queen’. Fittingly, Eilidh then came to Britain and two days later won a bronze medal at an under-17 British Ranking Competition in Cardiff. This secured her selection for the British team travelling to Hungary in October for the European Cadet Circuit event, which is the first step on the journey to World Championship selection – one of Eilidh’s next big goals.

Lloyd Osborne spearheaded a strong club performance at the British Yourh Championship in early May by winning the under-16 British title. RTWFC’s fencers also picked up two bronzes and two ‘extended podium’ places over three days of competition as the club underlined its status as one of the strongest youth epee fencing clubs in the country.

Lloyd, having finished as runner-up in the U14 age group two years ago, was determined to take his chance and go one step further this time. Following a strong start in the poules and a comfortable first two knockout rounds, Lloyd then had to dig deep to keep progressing. In the quarter-final, his opponent started like a whirlwind, leaving Lloyd to claw his way back from 2-7 down for a thrilling 15-14 win, while in the semi-final Lloyd had to quell a classic comeback to again score a one-point victory. Phew! In the final, ‘Lord Airborne’ fenced immaculately to score a 15-12 win over the top seed. Lloyd then climbed to the top step of the medal rostrum with his customary podium poker face.

Competing on the same day, Eilidh Paterson, 14, bagged a brilliant bronze in the U16 girls event, having turned a 10-12 deficit into a 15-13 win in a high-quality quarter, while on the final day 10-year-old Artemis Nakos took bronze in the U12 event. Add to this our quarter-finalists Izzie D’Abbraccio and Miles Raymond, and a slew of strong performances from the rest of the team, and the BYCs 2024 were RTWFC’s best national youth results to date.