RAF Cosford provided the venue for the 2009 British Youth Foil Championships with over 300 of Britain s best young foilists taking part.

RAF Cosford provided the venue for the 2009 British Youth Foil Championships with over 300 of Britain's best young foilists taking part. Three Sidmouth & East Devon fencers qualified to represent the South West region at the competition. Fencing in the U18 girls' event, Isla Findlay and Grace Williams faced extremely difficult poules but held their own, Isla winning three of six fights and Grace three of five. Both girls received byes for the first round direct elimination, and the second round proved no problem with Isla winning her fight 15-2 and Grace winning hers 15-4. They were knocked out of medal contention in the last 16, Isla going out 4-15 to the number four seed and Grace 8-15 to the fifth seed. Having made the UK top 16, fittingly they finished next to each other, Grace in 12th place and Isla in 13th. This is the end of an era for the girls as it was their ninth and final British Youth Foil Championships, both having qualified every year since 2001 when they first competed as nine year olds.In the U16 girls' category, Lisanne King, 14, achieved three good victories in her poule. In the Direct Eimination she had the misfortune to meet one of the top UK Cadets. Bravely defending against her opponent's relentless attacks, she managed some good ripostes before being taken out 3-15, finishing in 22nd place. Former clubmates Simon Ames and Rohan Knowles, who now fence at Wellington School, were also in action. Simon finished 42nd in the U14 boys and Rohan, putting in a fantastic performance, finished 14th in the U12 boys.