A strong cohort of the “Older, Sneakier and Wiser” veterans arrived for the final 6 days of competition, which started off with VWS and VME.
Emma Waller came a strong 6th in the VWS and Marc Burkhalter continued a great tournament with a final result of 12th out of the largest entry of the whole event (115) in VME! In VMF, Oliver Massey fenced to a 10th place finish, and a great performance from Ruth Silverstone saw her take Bronze in VWE. The closest of matches saw her just miss out on a final, losing 9-10 to the second ranked Canadian. In the final individual events, Marion Thomas fenced to a strong 8th place, and in 14th place, Maggie Myers also picked up the age-group Gold medal! In VMS, Jim Crawfurd delivered a strong performance to come 5th, and in his first Veterans Commonwealths, Nick Charles took a brilliant Silver medal, fighting well all day, but missing out on Gold 6-10. Richard Beath also took a well-deserved age-group Gold in this event.
Onto the team events, and VME, with Steven Bateman, Marc Burkhalter, Oliver Massey and Neale Thomas combined well to secure a Bronze medal! A close battle with the Canadians saw them miss out on a final 41-45. The VWS ladies of Emma Waller, Wednesday Jones, Lyn Robinson and Marion Thomas battled well, but missed out on their Bronze, losing the 3rd place fight to a strong Scotland team 32-45. The VWE team comprising Ruth Silverstone, Meg Shepherd-Foster, Cath Bowd and Saskia Russell stayed in touch with a strong Scotland team in the L8, but lost to the eventual champions 41-45. In a Bronze medal match against Australia, the VMF team came close, but Oliver Massey, Velota Sung, Richard Thomas and Marvin Evans just missed out also 41-45. On the final day, the VMS team of Nick Charles, Jim Crawfurd, Ceri Thomas and Neil Bowd fought a close match against the Canadians, missing out on a Bronze medal 40-45. After pipping Scotland 45-44 in the L8, the VWF team of Marion Thomas, Meg Shepherd-Foster, Ruth Rowland and Maggie Myers also missed out, 38-45 to a strong Canadian team.
In the Challenge competitions, our “Penderyn” teams also enjoyed the fencing and success. The VMF team of Simon Curling, Mark Robertson, David Victory and Nigel Betterton came 4th. VME comprising of Rob Brooks, David McKay and David Victory came 3rd. Last but definitely not least, the VMS team of Richard Beath, Alistair Brook, Nick Hill, and Carl Morris came 2nd.
