The restrictions of the Covid years temporarily severely reduced the number of young fencers in training in Devon, but Sidmouth and East Devon fencing Club have battled back with renewed enthusiasm and excellence, as demonstrated by top performances in regional events and representation on a national level.

Sidmouth's Arthur Sepp and Sam Bright met in the final of the U15 boys foil Devon Championships and Sam proved the values of the Sidmouth emphasis on acquiring good basic technique, and in a closely fought bout, selected suitable tactics to win. Congratulations also to Lewis Palmer for his performance at the event.

Cassidy Chan's standard of fencing is far beyond her U13 age group, she won the girls U15 Gold and fenced alongside the boys too!

A recent convert from Foil to Epee, Tom Brittain gradually gained confidence in the U13 Epee. After losing 0-5 to a boy in the preliminary round, he met him again in the final and won Gold with a score of 15-11.

Sidmouth's GB U17 epeeist, Toby Moore has recently been coaching Tom. Toby has been selected as reserve for the GB U17 Epee team, due to fence in New Zealand at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships. Toby recently won the Devon Men's Championships and has fenced for GB U17 team in Hungary and Switzerland!

Patrick Cockburn won silver in the Boys U11 foil. Ella Axon was sadly unable to join the Sidmouth team on this occasion due to illness - next time Ella!

Recently, Coach Angela Findlay has fenced for GB in the world Veterans Championships in the USA. Club members are grateful for the expert coaching of Nigel Manning, Oliver Manning, Angela Findlay and Valerie Morrish who generously give their time and extraordinary skills to develop the Sidmouth and East Devon Fencing Club and its members.

The Sidmouth Club caters for foil, epee and sabre and is open to children and adults - they meet every Thursday from 5.30pm at Sidmouth LED Sports Hall and always welcome new fencers, give them a visit and it might be your sport for the future!