In January 2024 at the Eastern Region Youth Championships held in Stevenage, club member Josh qualified for a place at the British Youth Championships. The British Youth Championships are held each year in Sheffield over the bank holiday weekend, bringing fencing from across the UK to fence representing their region. Josh has shown incredible dedication to the sport, working hard to prepare for the BYCs. On Sunday 5th May, he achieved 40th place in the Under 16 Men's Epee competition out of a total 73 entries, representing both Cromer Fencing Club and Eastern Region.
Having fenced epee for only 9 months, Josh has made some excellent progress. His first round started well, as he managed to comfortably win his first bout 5-1. He then fenced the eventual silver medallist, fencing well but resulting in a 5-2 loss. By the end of the first round, Josh had won three of his six bouts which placed him 37th overall going into the second round, which is the elimination round. As number 37 seed, Josh was due to fence 28th seed, Edwin Naughton representing Scotland East. The final score of this bout was 15-9 to Naughton, and therefore eliminating Josh in the last 64 tableau.
Cromer Fencing Club are very proud of what Josh has achieved in such a short amount of time. He is already thinking ahead to the next competitions including the England Youth Championships in June and British Cadet National Championships in September. The club looks forward to supporting more junior fencers at the event next year.
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