Lancaster Open 2019
Nov. 7th, 2020 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99After years of pleading by M-T, AKA the other Austrian*, I finally went up to Lancaster to fence at the Lancaster Open.
It was a good choice, the Lancaster's a nice, small, friendly competition, with two rounds of pools, and it's well run. Lancaster Uni is really easy to get to from Lancaster train station via public transport and there's a bus stop right outside Lancaster Uni sports hall. (Also, Lancaster train station is really pretty.)
The fencing was less good.
Or rather ,the pools went really well (was 4th after pools), the knockout went badly and I lost 15-8 to a girl I'd beaten in the pools. In the words of the ref, "have you considered extending the arm when attacking?" (I feel I need to add that I know the ref well enough not to mind, and yes, I am used to sarcastic advice from referees on this matter.) Once again, I lost to a fiendish left-hander (fiendish left-hander is actually lovely, but I reserve the right to sulk ;) ) The knock out was bad enough that the ref asked if I had ever considered attacking. (I know the ref well enough not to be offended by jokes at my expense.)
It was also the first time I fenced L-B W and her little sister, who are both tiny, young and terrifyingly good, but also lovely. And, unusual in general fencing but some how more frequent amongst the Scots, have a lovely fencing parent. As in didn't mind me beating younger sister (I am a damned good counter-attacker, and know how to deal with young and too fast for their hands for the moent) and asking for tips for the future.
I will be doing the Lancaster again. I mean, I did it in 2020 (the Lancaster was the last open I had a chance to do) and I will do it again once we're allowed back.
*yes, it stands for exactly what the other German-speakers think it does. She has threatened me with a sword for laughing before now.
It was a good choice, the Lancaster's a nice, small, friendly competition, with two rounds of pools, and it's well run. Lancaster Uni is really easy to get to from Lancaster train station via public transport and there's a bus stop right outside Lancaster Uni sports hall. (Also, Lancaster train station is really pretty.)
The fencing was less good.
Or rather ,the pools went really well (was 4th after pools), the knockout went badly and I lost 15-8 to a girl I'd beaten in the pools. In the words of the ref, "have you considered extending the arm when attacking?" (I feel I need to add that I know the ref well enough not to mind, and yes, I am used to sarcastic advice from referees on this matter.) Once again, I lost to a fiendish left-hander (fiendish left-hander is actually lovely, but I reserve the right to sulk ;) ) The knock out was bad enough that the ref asked if I had ever considered attacking. (I know the ref well enough not to be offended by jokes at my expense.)
It was also the first time I fenced L-B W and her little sister, who are both tiny, young and terrifyingly good, but also lovely. And, unusual in general fencing but some how more frequent amongst the Scots, have a lovely fencing parent. As in didn't mind me beating younger sister (I am a damned good counter-attacker, and know how to deal with young and too fast for their hands for the moent) and asking for tips for the future.
I will be doing the Lancaster again. I mean, I did it in 2020 (the Lancaster was the last open I had a chance to do) and I will do it again once we're allowed back.
*yes, it stands for exactly what the other German-speakers think it does. She has threatened me with a sword for laughing before now.
