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On behalf of the membership, the Board would like to thank Mark Ridsdale and Fran Whalley for their contribution to Welsh Fencing.

Both are standing down from their Director and Secretary roles respectively, with Mark also having previously undertaken the role of Chair.

During their tenures, they have both worked tirelessly to improve access to everything associated with fencing across the whole of Wales. Their passion, and focus on participants has improved support for coaches, referees, and fencers. They have also worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that Welsh Fencing is in the strong position that it is from a governance and finance point of view.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Mark for all the support and patience he has shown me in my first 2 years as Chair. His knowledge and wisdom has helped me enormously in understanding the role of Chair, and developing relationships with our stakeholders at Sport Wales and beyond.

Fran continually inspires a focus on our members. Fencers, coaches, referees, clubs etc are the lifeblood of our sport, and she ensured that this was always at the forefront of board discussions.

A huge thank you to you both.

Matt Russell
Chair – Welsh Fencing

Tuesday 9^th August saw the start of a unique Commonwealth Fencing Championships at SportsDock in East London.

As a result of the postponed Cadet and Junior Championships which were due to take place in New Delhi in 2021, the organisers of CFFC2022 agreed to host, for the first time ever, a championship that incorporated all four age groups, along with, wheelchair fencing events too.

On behalf of the fencing community in Wales, the Board would like to extend our congratulations to Georgina Usher, CEO of British Fencing on the recent award of an MBE.

The Honour, for services to Fencing recognises her many fencing achievements and contribution to the sport in many guises, culminating as CEO of British Fencing.

Welsh Fencing have gifted our pin badges to Georgina as a small token of our congratulations and we very much look forward to continuing to work with her in moving the sport forwards.

Read the full BF article here: Read More

 Congratulations to all Welsh fencers at this weekend’s BYC’s

Over 1000 young fencers met at this year’s BYC’s over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. Welsh Fencing had 37 fencers representing our region, some at a big competition for the first time!

Welsh Fencing are pleased to announce a new partnership with The Urdd (Urdd Gobaith Cymru).

Once again a very closely fought event, with a high standard of fencing.   Leading from the start was Nikolas Antoniou (Russell Swords), who successfully took the cup, with Rhys Jackson (Malvern Hills) and Rupert Nute (Whitchurch) hot on this heels …

Full report - whitchurchfencing.co.uk/sullivan  

Thank you to those of you who entered the BYC Qualifiers, scheduled for 26/27 March.

With a total entry of 46 fencers across the 24 events, plus a large number of Byes due to conflicting events, sadly its not viable to actually run the event. There is some good news, in that it means that ALL fencers have qualified for the finals in Sheffield.

So, please do not attend the event in Cardiff, which will not run. WF will notify BF of the qualifiers. You will hear from BF, in due course, about the arrangements for the finals.

2022 will be the 75 year anniversary for Welsh Fencing.  We propose to bring together a working group to define how best to celebrate this, and to plan any activities.  If you are interested in being part of this group, plase email Fran (fran.whalley@fencing.cymru).  It would also help it you could include any specific skills you have that you think would benefit the project.

At today's Welsh Fencing AGM, Lyndon Martin was awarded the honour of Honorary Life Member.  Here are some of the highlights of his fencing career.

Lyndon took up fencing in the 1960s, prompted by the late Wynford Seymour, whom he met whilst working at the Port Talbot steelworks, where Wynford was a nursing officer. After fencing for some years at Swansea, Lyndon ‘moved’ to Cardiff, fencing both there, and in the old Excalibur club, in the 60s & 70s.

An able fencer, noted for his quick accurate attacks, Lyndon was soon taking part in several high profile matches. A member of the Wales epee team in their match against Denmark in Copenhagen in 1972/3, Lyndon was one of the group of Welsh fencers who regularly attended many events at home, and outside Wales, in those years. He was highly placed in the Epee Club Cup in 1978 & again in 1979, and secured 4th place in the Bristol Open of 1977/8.

Adrian Stoneman, Cardiff, won this year’s cup, his third win to date, in a very closely fought contest.

Full details on www.whitchurchfencing.co.uk/sullivan

Over the next few weeks, we will be moving to a new domain - fencing.cymru - so to get to our website, you should use this new domain name:  https://fencing.cymru. 

For the last few years, we have hosted our website on a shared hosting provider.  We have not been satisfied with the performance, as we are impacted by the other websites sharing the same server.  As we approach the end of that contract, we have established a new domain, and have moved to use AWS Lightsail.  This gives us our own Virtual Private Server, which we have more control over, and which we expect to perform much better.

Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Colin Hyndman, who passed away in his sleep.

He made a massive impact on Fencing in Wales, and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award just over a year ago.

The following article describes his presentation, back in November, 2019:

We are excited to announce that a range of Welsh Fencing sports kit is now available.

Following feedback indicating a demand for high quality, reasonably priced kit that gives all members a clearer identity as Welsh fencers, we have worked with a local supplier, Olorun Sports to design a bespoke set of kit that reflects the Welsh national colours of green and red, this time set on a black background.

I have always loved to participate in many sports clubs, and since I can remember, it’s been me, my horse, my trainers and a pair of goggles. When I was invited to attend a Modern Pentathlon session at 14, I was introduced to the sport of fencing. It was how it was so different to the other disciplines that I developed a passion for it. I was interested in how fencing challenges the physical, mental, technical capacity of an athlete, and after many, many failed attempts, I finally managed to put the pieces together.

I am now 18 and fencing is still very much my passion. Whilst frustrating at times, I just love it. After my A-levels, I took a gap year to pursue my goals in fencing and will be starting at the University of Bath to study French and German in the next academic year. I have some of my best memories in fencing and have had lots of adventures. Fencing has taken me across Europe, including Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg. In 2016, I entered my first domestic ranking competition, placing 13th at the British Cadet Championships for Epée, and after several consistent results I represented GB at U17 at EFC level in my first competition season.

The skills I acquired from competing at a higher level were invaluable and the following year I fought into the top 64 consistently, scoring international points. Both the supportive team atmosphere and the opportunity to spar with international athletes really helped me to prepare for my U20 seasons. Similarly I was selected for the Excalibur team competition, Senior and Cadet Wintons and Senior 5 Nations in my first cadet season for Wales which benefitted me greatly, especially because I had the opportunity to regularly fence top seniors in Britain in a competitive environment and experience first-hand the nerves and excitement that can affect your performance. Being part of Welsh Fencing has given me the opportunity to develop as an athlete and as a fencer at the higher levels.

One of the events that was crucial to my development was the UK School Games which I competed at in 2016 and 2017. Our U20 team won Bronze both years, my first medals at Home Internationals. It really boosted my confidence to have a strong and enthusiastic team encouraging and supporting us throughout the competition. I was selected for the Senior, Junior and Cadet Commonwealth Championships in 2018, and finished my cadet career on a high with a 5th place finish in the individual event, and last year I took Silver at my first and final Youth 5 Nations.

I am now finishing my second to last year as a Junior and have recently returned from the Junior European Championships in Croatia, where, again, team spirit and enthusiasm were so important, and set me in the right direction to perform without too much stress or pressure. Whilst I did not get selected to represent GB in U20s last year, I was able to consolidate and improve upon my skill set, which has had a positive impact on this season; a Silver medal at the Milner Barry, and a second Bronze at the British U23 Championships. I am ranked 4th in the U20 British rankings and have competed in 5 Junior World Cups, as an individual and in the team event. My successes in the senior events placed me in the top 10 for GB in Senior Women’s Epée and I was selected for four Senior World Cups as a result. I am really pleased to have scored international points and am really looking forward to next year’s fencing circuit. My next international is the Junior World Championships, and I am optimistic that I can improve upon my previous results, bring home many more positives and lots more to improve upon! There is always something new to learn, but I would say the greatest lesson I have learned is to appreciate where you are, know your goals and keep on persevering.

WYNFORD SEYMOUR (1931-2020)

Wynford was born in the Swansea valley and moved to Swansea where he pursued his fencing career.

He established the Swansea School of Fencing in 1957, and also gave private lessons at his home. He had a concrete strip in the front garden and a large room indoors when the weather was inclement.

Colin Hyndman, of Gwent Sword, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award following the recent Annual General Meeting.

A former international fencer who represented Wales at foil in the 1974 Commonwealth Championships in Canada, Colin was a coach at the former Newport and Chepstow Fencing Clubs and is now chairman of Gwent Sword Club.

Colin still coaches at Gwent Sword Club at at the age of 85 and his many years dedicated to the sport were recognised at Welsh Fencing's AGM.  Tributes were paid to Mr Hyndman by the Board of Welsh Fencing, and fellow fencers and coaches.  His award was presented by his daughter, Lynne Melia.

For full details, please see the article in the South Wales Argus: https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/18057879.gwent-sword-club-fencing-coach-receives-lifetime-achievement-award/

With several key fencers unable to make the journey to Australia, we knew we weren’t going to replicate the fantastic medal haul from the last Commonwealth Championships in 2014. In addition, with all the top Australians involved, a decent turnout from Canada, full strength squads from England and Scotland, and India continuing their rapid improvement, this was one of the toughest fields I have ever seen at this event. All our fencers did themselves great credit and to come away with two bronze medals (Senior Women’s Epee Team and Veterans Women’s Sabre Individual) was a great achievement.

Medals for the Women's Epee Team and Emma Waller.  For the full results from the Commonwealth Senior and Veteran Fencing Championships, 2018, please follow the link below.

Welsh Fencing have successfully achieved the Level 1 Standard in Safeguarding:

It is with great sadness that I have been informed that Bernice (Bunny) Norfolk, spouse of Mike Norfolk, MBE, the Life President of the WVFA and former head coach and founder of Wrexham Fencing club passed away on Thursday 5th July peacefully at home after a short illness.

The funeral is being held at Chester Crematorium, Blaken, Chester on Wednesday 18th July at 15.20.

Welsh Fencing would like to Wish Steve Dignam a very happy retirement from full time coaching at Celtic Mini Fencing Club.

Steve set up the club with his wife Helen in 2012 and since then has contributed massively to grass roots fencing in Wales and led the way in the use of plastic fencing kit in the country.

We hope you enjoy your travels, spending time with your grandchild and getting back into fencing at Celtic Sword!

Our very best wishes.