On a busy weekend for the club’s fencers, with six of our most deadly U16s and U18s engaged elsewhere, the RTWFC team at the South East Regionals still absolutely smashed it – winning two golds, a silver and four bronzes to secure a full fistful of medals.

James Dunmall and Lorenzo Rehman (pictured) took gold in the U14 boys and U12 boys events respectively, while Artemis Nakos took silver in the U12 girls event, and Zach Bench (U18), Hiba Rochdi (U18) Logan Brown (U14) and Willa Raymond (U12) all went home with well-earned bronzes.

As well as seven of the team making the podium, six made the quarter finals and another two fencers qualified for the British Youth Championships in Sheffield in early May.

The results underlined Royal Tunbridge Wells Fencing Club’s status as the most successful epee club in the region for under 18s in recent years, and bodes well for the national finals in early May.

Results

1st James Dunmall, U14 Boys (Q)

1st Lorenzo Rehman, U12 Boys (Q)

2nd Artemis Nakos, U12 Girls (Q)

3rd Zach Bench, U18 Boys (Q)

3rd Hiba Rochdi, U18 Girls (Q)

3rd Logan Brown, U14 Boys (Q)

3rd Willa Raymond, U12 Girls (Q)

5th Alec Hargreaves, U16 Boys (Q)

6th Daisy Beadsworth, U18 Girls (Q)

6th Roy Ching, U14 Boys (Q)

6th Timmy Yakovlev, U12 Boys (Q)

8th Elsa Brondbjerg, U16 Girls (Q)

8th Adam Horan, U12 Boys (Q)

10th Laurie Briggs, U16 Boys (Q)

12th Miles Yiu, U14 Boys (Q)

15th Sylvie Davidson, U16 Girls

29th Rudi Madams, U16 Boys

It was a bitter sweet experience for the club’s six fencers in action for Britain in Novi Sad, Serbia, on 26th January, as five scored their best European results to date – but four were in their final U17 action on the continent, and two agonisingly missed out on Euro Champs selection by a whisker.

Eilidh Paterson led the way, placing an excellent 35th – her second top 64 finish of the season – which suggests she is in good form going into the European Cadet Championships in Turkey in February. Having secured a coveted British selection to the Euros in November with a gritty 80th place in Grenoble whilst wearing borrowed kit (hers was stolen), Eilidh then stepped back from competition to prepare for her GCSEs – but is rounding back into top form at just the right time.

It wasn’t just Eilidh having a good day, though: Hiba Rochdi made the knockouts for the first time courtesy of a stirring four-point comeback in her last poule bout, while Andrea Ross and Izzie D’Abbraccio made the last 64 for the first time with steely performances in tight bouts.

However, both narrowly missed out on the last 32 – results that would have seen both qualify for the World Championships in China in April. Compounding matters, this was Andrea’s last competition in the GB Cadet team before moving onto the Juniors – and Hiba, Sasha Yakovlev, Zach Bench and the injured Lloyd Osborne (who qualified for both the Euros and Worlds) are also ‘aging out’ too. So are some of our favourite travelling companions on the GB team – Emma Mitzova, Katy Hawthorne, Robin Silk and Charlie Lutyens-Humfreys, to name but four.

Still, if you are signing off, then sign off in style. That was Sasha’s approach, as he made the last 64 for the first time and finished in a fantastic 41st, whilst teammate Zach Bench finished in 133rd.

It won’t be every season that RTWFC has seven fencers selected for the British Cadet team – more than any other club in 2024-25 – but the next generation is beginning to come through, so hopefully Eilidh and Izzie will have some club team-mates for company in Europe next season.