Brock Open 2015 – Bronze Medal

Eight London Fencing Club members attended the Brock Open tournament on the November 14-15 weekend, representing a number of categories and coming home with two medals!

Chris Wick had a busy Saturday, first fencing in a tough poule in the Senior Men’s épée. Still energized, he went on to compete in the Mixed Veteran event (in a poule that had the eventual bronze, silver, and gold medalists in it) and fenced a tight bout in the DE, finishing overall in 17th.

Representing the U14 Men’s Division was Noah Stokan. He had two wins in his poule and fenced the silver medal finalist in the DE, finishing overall in the top twelve.

In both the Junior Men’s and Cadet Men’s Epée, Nathaniel Stokan placed in the top eight! He tied for first in his poule for the Junior event and went on to win a comeback match 15-14 in the DE, placing in sixth. On Sunday’s Cadet event, he dominated his poule with six victories and finished the tournament in fifth.

The Senior Women’s Epée saw five London members compete, two of whom won medals! Karen Laansoo and Hillary Elliott achieved bronze and silver respectively. Karen won all of her poule bouts and bulldozed through the DE matches, winning a nail-biting 14-13 victory in the quarter-finals. Hillary also finished top in her poule and continued on to win tight bouts in the quarter- and semi-finals. Also fencing in this division were Latisha Laing, who fenced close matches in her poule, and Noura Hamade, who won four of her first bouts and continued on into the DE round of thirty-two, finishing in the top twenty-five. Lauren Pasma finished third in her poule and easily won her first DE bout, placing overall in eleventh.

Congratulations to all competitors and medalists for a great tournament! As one of the tournament competitors said, success depends on “digging deep, playing it one point at a time, and staying focused. And eating your vegetables.”