Strong Start to Season for ZFW Fencing Club
The fencing season started strongly for North London club ZFW, both on and off the piste, with podium performances at key competitions, British Fencing honours for an organiser, and the publication of founder Ziemek Wojciechowski’s book on training and performance.
Foilist Carolina Stutchbury marked impressive wins with gold medals at both the Cadet National Championships (under the age of 17) and the under-20 Junior National Championships. The competitions were held at the University of East London in late September. Stutchbury, aged 13, cited the “fantastic support” of ZFW’s senior coaches in her success.
Clubmate Amelie Tsang, also 13, won a bronze in the Junior category and finished just outside the medals in the Cadet Nationals, placing fifth. Among ZFW’s men, Dario Stenbeck-Schiavo placed fifth at both the Cadet Championships and the Juniors. Clubmate Matthew Abrahams finished a solid sixth in the Junior Nationals.
“ZFW fencers are continually improving their results in competition,” said head coach Wojciechowski, who excels in nurturing potential.
ZFW showcased its excellence again at British Fencing’s under-23 Championships at Hendon’s Leon Paul Fencing Centre with its men taking half the top spots among the final eight competitors. Dominic de Almeida repeated his gold-medal performance of 2018 while Cameron Evans won bronze. Abrahams placed fifth and Edmund Howlett finished sixth, reflecting the overall strength of the ZFW squad. Tsang was the only ZFW entry in the women’s under-23 Championships; she finished 23rd.
“It’s never easy coming into a competition as defending champion. There is a certain amount of pressure,” said 20-year-old de Almeida. “I was particularly proud of how I kept my composure in the key moments, when I was trailing 12-10, and managed to bring it back to win 15-12.”
ZFW’s senior foilists were also in action. North London’s Alex Tofalides, who competes for Cyprus, battled his way through an international field of seasoned foilists to take the silver medal at the Trekanten International in Copenhagen earlier this month.
Off the piste, club secretary Sheryl Chiu-Sosnov was awarded honours at the annual general meeting of British Fencing, the sport’s governing body, for her work in creating community within the club and fostering the spirit of sport more widely.
And club founder Wojciechowski, an Olympic competitor who has coached some of the world’s most successful fencers, marked the publication of his book on advanced training and performance techniques, called This Is Fencing! Wojciechowski is well known for this phrase, often using it in competitions when an athlete has performed particularly well.
ZFW is run by Olympic Coach Ziemek Wojciechowski with a team of dedicated experts. The club aims to boost the standard of fencing in Britain by providing a centre of excellence for elite fencers training for Olympic, international and national teams. It also provides a learning programme with an emphasis on youngsters. ZFW operates from various venues in North London and elsewhere around the capital. For further details, please visit https://www.zfw-fencing.co.uk
ATTACHED PHOTOS:
1) ZFW head coach Ziemek Wojciechowski at the Under-23 Fencing Championships with gold medallist Dominic de Almeida and bronze medallist Cameron Evans.
Photo Credit: ZFW Fencing Club
2) Junior National Champion Carolina Stutchbury (editor’s note: longer hair, holding sword trophy) and bronze medallist Amelie Tsang with piste coaches Dominic de Almeida (eds note: wearing hat) and Peter Barwell (eds note: red t-shirt).
Photo Credit: ZFW Fencing Club
3) ZFW men’s fencing squad and coaches. The men’s foilists claimed half the spots in the final eight of the Under-23 Championships at the Leon Paul Fencing Centre in Hendon.
Photo Credit: ZFW Fencing Club
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