Truro School welcomes four new fencers

This season, Truro School has welcomed four new fencers to the High Performance Fencing Programme. Truro School, holders of the title of best public school at sabre fencing in the country, has attracted Ethan from Jersey, Amy from Cardiff, Eiger from Cornwall and Hattie from France. This new intake into the elite group of national and international fencers will benefit from the school’s partnership with Truro Fencing Club, who provide all the High Performance fencing activities.

Hattie said: “My ambition is to go to medical school while maintaining my fencing training. My family lives in France, where fencing standards are high, and I was in a specialist sporting section at my lycée, but I decided to come back to do my A-levels rather than the baccalauréat so that I could focus on the main subjects needed for medicine. I came to Truro School as it has a very good reputation for fencing as well as academically. I’m now a boarder and I love it here, with school and training my days are spent doing what I enjoy the most.”

These four young athletes join the existing elite group from Cornwall and further to make up a 17-strong Truro School team of outstanding fencers who aspire to follow in the footsteps of the host of Truro fencers who have gone before them to represent GB at European and World Championships and Olympic Games.

Ethan said: “The first time I visited Truro was for the TFC Summer Fencing Camp in 2016 and I have aspired to attend the school ever since. I could not be happier to be able to study for my A-levels at Truro School and train with Jon, the Team GB National sabre coach.”

Whilst the fencing season has been suspended for now, it is hoped that the national circuit will resume towards the end of the year, with internationals pencilled in for early 2021. Thanks to the outstanding TFC High Performance daily lockdown training programme, the fencing team has been able to maintain a high-intensity technical and physical programme, guided by the club’s international coaches over Zoom. This ensured that when British Fencing lifted training restrictions in July, the fencers were ready immediately to get back on the piste, and begin to work towards peaking for their competition season which lies ahead.