We’re incredibly proud that both Lathyn and Charlie have achieved a top 50% ranking in the British Fencing U14 rankings, earning eligibility to compete at the U14 EFC Circuit in Gothenburg, Sweden. 🤺🇬🇧🇸🇪
A fantastic achievement and an exciting opportunity to compete on the international stage!
On 29th-30th August, our Head Coach, John Routledge, was invited by British Fencing to join the coaching team at the GBR Pathway Camp, held at the David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham.
John worked alongside fellow GBR foil coaches Dan Robinson and Marco Zaffino, with excellent athlete mentoring provided by Will Lonsdale.
The camp covered a wide range of important topics designed to support the development of young fencers, including warming up, reflection and preparation, nutrition, identifying fencing ‘super strengths’, performing under pressure, and team events.
It was a fantastic opportunity for John to contribute to the development of the next generation of British fencing talent.
A big thank you to British Fencing for organising such an excellent three-weapon camp, and to everyone involved in making the weekend a success.
Thank you to Ziemek Wojciechowski for inviting our head coach John to come and give lessons at the ZWF Summer Camp. The camp was four days of training (25th-28th August) at the Leon Paul Centre in Hendon.
The camp consisted of warm ups, footwork, sparring with conditions and 1-2-1 lessons with top coaches. Well done to Sarum Swords fencers Lathyn and Charlie for working so hard at the camp.
Lathyn- Third overall in the Leon Paul Junior SeriesLathyn (near) in action at the International LPJS
Well done to Lathyn, who placed 3rd overall, in the under 14 boys foil, Leon Paul Junior Series. Amongst Lathyn’s achievements this season, he won gold at Cardiff, bronze at Dragon LPJS and another bronze medal at the Polwhele event. Congratulations on a massively successful season!
Charlie – 7th place overall in the series
Great fencing also from Charlie, who ended the season in 7th place overall, in the under 14 rankings. Charlie’s medal haul consisted of three bronze podium finishes (gained at the Dragon, Cardiff and Bristol events). Charlie also unexpectedly won a gold in the under 17 category at Bristol.
Medal winning performances from Harvey who won a bronze medal at the Dragon LPJS and Nico, who won bronze at the Polwhele event. Amazing!
Harvey – Dragon bronze medallist
Our under 14 fencers won an impressive nine LPJS medals this season. What a fantastic effort!
Nico (left) En garde and ready at the International LPJS
Well done to Lathyn who finished 33rd and to Charlie who finished 35th in the U15 boys foil at the England Youth Championships held at the Hertfordshire Sports Village in Hatfield.
Lathyn (right)
Both boys won three of their poule matches. As both Lathyn and Charlie have another two years in this age category, this is a very promising result. Well fenced!
On the 18th & 19th July, Sarum Swords head coach John Routledge was honoured to be selected by British Fencing to coach at the GBR foil pathway camp which was held at the Leon Paul Fencing Centre. These camps are for athletes who are moving through a defined development pathway to success at the highest level of fencing.
The theme of this camp was: Pre-Season – Creativity and Exploration
The athletes spent the weekend exploring creative problem-solving, tactical awareness, and momentum-building within a structured pre-season environment.
The sessions included:
Preparations Attacking actions Creativity and exploration Momentum and initiative
John coaching the foilists at the Leon Paul Centre in Hendon
Well done to all the hard working pathway athletes for making the camp such a success.
Brilliant performance this weekend from Matthew in the Senior British Open and also from Lathyn and Charlie in the British under 14 open. The results from these competitions will have moved all the boys closer to their fencing goals and towards more International fencing. Exciting times ahead. Well done!
Beautiful, classical lunge from Lathyn to secure the winMatthew’s first elimination win was a highlight of the weekendMatthew (left) using point in lineGreat lunge from LathynCharlie showed a big improvement fencing left handersInfighting from Charlie (right)