Fencer, Jenny McGeever.jpg)
Jenny McGeever, is a young fencer from Tiverton, Devon, has
previously been Under-17 National Champion in 2007, Under-18
British Youth Champion in 2008 and Under-20 National Champion in
2009. She started fencing in 2004 when she was asked if she wanted
to compete in Modern Pentathlon competitions, however fencing was
the discipline she enjoyed the most. She spends the spare time she
has helping raise funds at her club, the Wellington Swords, for
young fencers.
Jenny, following announcement of a £500 grant in April 2010
from the JWCT commented on her sport and the funding: “In
fencing, everything relies on you being able to read your
opponent's moves and out-manoeuvre them and it is often described
as physical chess! At an international level, each country has
their individual styles so the more people you fence the more you
learn. There are also two types of epee grips - the pistol which
is used by the vast majority of fencers and the pommel which is
used by some fencers especially in France and some Asian
countries. Fencing the Junior World Cup circuit, you rarely come
up against a pommeller but when you do, it requires completely
different tactics. So I am going to use my grant to travel to
France and train and compete against pommellers so that I can
fine-tune my fencing skills against such opponents.”
Jenny has been selected for the British team for the Junior
World Fencing Championships in Baku in April 2010 for both the
individual and team events, having achieved one L16, two L32 and
two L64 at Junior World Cup events in the 2009/10 season.
Jenny fences will also be competing in the Under-23 European
Fencing Championships in Gdansk at the end of April 2010.
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April 2010
“I am just back from Gdansk
where I came 13th in the U23 European Championships. It was a great
experience fencing in this higher age group.”
April 2010
“I thought I would update
you on my recent experiences in Baku at the Junior World Champtionships.
I was extremely pleased with my performance in the poule winning all
6 bouts including two I had not expected to win against more experienced
fencers. After the poules, I was ranked fifth and had a bye into the
L64.
I felt confident going into the
L54 DE fight but came up against a Japanese girl who used a pommel handle.
This exposed my lack of experience of both Asian fencers and their style
and those that use a pommel handle and I lost the fight 10-15. I was
extremely disappointed and the Japanese girl went on to win against
a Korean in the L32.
In the last 16, I watched the French
girl Lauren Rembli beat the Japanese girl 15-4 and learnt a lot from
the tactics she used. It is my intention to attend a fencing camp in
France over the summer where I will have the opportunity to fence a
good number of people who use a pommel handle as you very rarely come
across this in the UK.
The money you have given me will
be used to help with the costs of attending the fencing camp which will,
hopefully, mean that I can develop my knowledge and tactical skills
so that I know how to deal with fencers using a pommel handle. I am
also using my Level 2 coaching qualification so that I can offer my
new-found skills to others.”
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