This past weekend, the clang of steel resonated throughout the field house. Dressed in dark blue suits, referees prompted, “Allez.” Fencers in crisp, white nylon jackets and breeches zipped back and forth across pistes. But where, pray tell, were the bleachers full of fans cheering on the Varsity team at the 2009 OUA Fencing Championships?
Fencing has a reputation as a stuffy, snooty sport that’s mistakenly grouped with limp pastimes like croquet. But there’s nothing limp about fencing. “It wouldn’t be a fencing tournament if you didn’t lose your voice,” called out Hilary Graydon to a combative Sam Goddard as he cheered on his épée teammates.
Even if Errol Flynn and Zorro didn’t figure heavily into your formative years, there’s a certain cerebral allure in fencing. “I was attracted to the fact that [fencing] requires a pretty unique combination of physical prowess and mental strategy, which is why it is sometimes referred to, quite accurately, as physical chess,” notes foil coach Jed Blackburn.
Varsity fencers successfully straddled this combination of prowess and strategy to win big at the championships.
U of T loomed large over the competition coming out of the OUA qualifiers, where all six teams qualified, building the momentum and confidence necessary to take the double banner at the championships.
The women’s team checked in their weapons at 7:45 a.m. on Valentine’s Day, prepared to prove that all is fair in love and war. The morning started with a round robin of individual bouts in which U of T dominated the ranks.
Épée and foil matches saw U of T fencers rise to the top rankings and square off against another in the finals. Épée captain Hilary Peden took the gold medal and épéeist Joanna Ko garnered silver, but not without first succumbing to an attack from a preceding bout that left her vomiting. Foil captain Claire Midgley took silver, while Mandy Lau won gold. On a piste at the other end of the field house, sabreuse Allison Doyle boldly lunged at her opponents, taking gold in her weapon class.
Coach Jed Blackburn boasts that “by winning gold in both individual and team events in all three weapons, combined with several silver medals and strong individual performances by all team members, they were probably the most successful women’s fencing team in U of T’s history.”
After lunch, the Varsity women’s team led a sweep and secured gold medals in all three weapons and the OUA banner. Coach Ken Wood attributes their success to this being “one of those exceptional years when all team members were peaking at the same time.”
The day ended with some due ribaldry as the girls hoisted head coach and OUA coach of the year Tom Nguyen and doused him with a cooler full of water.
The next morning, the men’s team gathered to take on the competition. There was a marked contrast in how the men played—while the women played patient and cunning matches, the men’s style was showier and more forceful.
Foil finals were especially suspenseful. Dressed in red track suits, the Royal Military College Paladins formed a daunting crowd behind foilist Sinatrio Raharjo as he stepped on the piste to compete with U of T’s Hans Wolfgramm for the gold medal. RMC had proved to be a formidable opponent throughout that morning. Fencers huddled on the benches beside the piste to cheer on Wolfgramm, who sported a d’Artagnan mustache and won the Charles Walter trophy this year and last. Both players saluted coaches and the referee, Olympic fencer Josh McGwyer, with their swords and lowered their masks. Raharjo bounced lightly back and forth as Wolfgramm made careful, measured steps, testing his opponent. There were deft displays of skill that ended in a frenzied finale—a sudden death tie-breaker. The first player to score a point would win the match. McGwyer tossed a coin. Hans Wolfgramm received priority. He lunged and struck Raharjo, winning the gold medal.
Before lunch, U of T had grabbed a solid number of medals: sabre silver (Alex Edmonds), épée silver (Andriy Mnih), foil gold (Hans Wolfgramm) and bronze (Kamil Karbonowski).
“Winning the men’s banner was much harder to predict and turned out to be a very close race between the top three teams,” admitted Blackburn.
In team events, U of T won the sabre silver and épée bronze. U of T and RMC faced off again in the tournament’s last game that afternoon, the foil team finals. Wolfgramm, Karbonowski, and teammate David Schacter took turns on the piste. Karbonowski was slated to play the final three minutes. A large crowd gathered on either side of the piste. Points built steadily on either side to much nail-biting, as the bout again came down to a sudden death match. Heart pounding, Karbonowski scored the final touch to win the gold, securing another OUA banner for Toronto.
The double banner is no small feat, considering the obstacles. Ken Wood, who’s been coaching the fencing team for 45 years, laments the small basement salle the team practices in, with congested pistes that leave little elbow room. The stereotype of fencing as an archaic sport doesn’t help to bring out crowds either. However, a strong coaching team, solid individual skills, and team camaraderie contributed to the victory.
What’s most striking is their poise, grit, and tenacity in gaining these quiet victories. Plus, they all look pretty dashing in those fencing uniforms.
The resounding victory may be enough to capture the attention due not only to the team, but to the art of fencing. Embrace your inner snob and show U of T’s fencing team some love.
