LEWESTON enjoyed good success at the South West British Youth Championships, with the Epee Fencing Championship taking place at Millfield School.

The event is a south west selection for the regional team going forward for the National Championships in Sheffield in May.

Leweston Pentathlon Academy had a team of 17 fencers taking part in all age groups from under-12 up to under-18, with many taking part in their first fencing competition.

The epee is one of the three weapons, along with foil and sabre, used for fencing with each weapon having different rules.

The club use epee due to its use in the modern pentathlon.

The rules for epee are easier than the other weapons as the whole body is the target and the one that gets the hit first gets the point. Fencers compete up to either 10 or 15 hits, or after three rounds of two minutes, to decide the winner.

The club had some good success with Coco Smythe (under-18), Sarah Carr, Elektra Covell in the under-16, Vivien Taylor (under-14) and Khalid Miah (under-12) achieving selection for the regional team.

Meanwhile, Lottie Trevethan qualified for the West Midlands team in the previous week following her silver in the under-16 girls.

The national finals will take place in Sheffield between May 5-7, this will also include the foil and sabre.

In the regional competition, the fencers take part in pools of up to seven in the first round to decide seedings for the knockout rounds.

Taylor and Miah both got to the final and took silver, and Smythe took bronze.

The event was great experience and development for the club athletes in their preparation for their future modern pentathlon fencing.

With six club athletes going forward to the nationals, it is considered a great achievement for the club.

Leweston: Boys’ under-12: Finn Sanderson, Khalid Miah and Jake Fisher; under-14 Fred Fisher, under-16 George Case. Girls’ under-12 Molly Colwell and Skye Fisher; under-14 Jessica Stevens, Darcy Dryden, Vivien Taylor and Charlotte Barr; under-16 Mimi Lecompte, Elektra Covell, Sarah Carr, Charlotte Hicks and Issy Colwell; under-18 Coco Smythe.

n Should you be interested in taking up fencing epee, the club night is at Leweston School on Wednesdays.

Contact club coach Mick Flaherty via flaherty121@aol.com for further details.