Trinity Win Intervarsity Championships 2012

The Winning Team

DUFC have retained the Frank Russell Intervarsity Cup for the 5^th consecutive year in a spectacular showcase of teamwork, strength and unity. This is Trinity’s 35^th win in the 58 years that the competition has been run.

As well as a fencing challenge the hosting of the Intervarsity Championships is also a logistical one. The competition was hosted by DUFC this year in the TCD sports centre from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Some of the logistical issues were the eleven pistes, two halls, 43 teams from 12 institutions, 143 matches, a maximum of 1287 bouts (963 fought), four rolls of piste tape, a D.T. a Tony Quinn and around 170 fencers, their equipment, coaches and supporters.

The competition began on Saturday morning following the previous night’s reception for the participating clubs. Men’s Foil, Men’s Épée and Women’s Sabre all competed on Saturday.

The DUFC’s Men’s Foil team came 2^nd overall only dropping one match against UCD coming out with six victories and one ahead of UCC who rounded out the top three. The match against UCD was tight and well fenced on both sides with DUFC eventually losing 5-3.

DUFC’s Men’s Épée team consisted mostly of beginners but despite this they fenced remarkably well and placed 7^th overall. Having not dropped a match until meeting UU Coleraine and losing 5-4 in a close match, DUFC made a comeback after an injury sustained to Alex Kelly beating UCC in his bout 5-4.

The Women’s Sabre team proved to be on top form only dropping one match to an impressive UCC side and overcoming DkIT and UCD with impressive scores. They came 2^nd overall only missing out on the top spot by 3 bouts

Following Saturdays performance everyone thought Trinity were out for the count having not won a single weapon despite strong fencing in each. Some in the club even began to doubt our resolve. This was all put on the shelf for the night while everyone enjoyed the glamorous reception with dinner and dancing thanks to our band ‘Created by Comets’ and the good omen of winning the Tony Quinn Cup for the first time in 16 years for the Boat Race.

Sunday morning came and all was put to bed after rousing and emotional speeches before the competition. DUFC took to the piste in Women’s Foil, Women’s Épée and Men’s Sabre and put on spectacular performances.

DUFC’s Women’s Foil team didn’t drop a match and came out on top after defeating NUIG 5-0, UU 5-1, Queen’s 5-2, UCD 5-4 and UCC 5-2. While the UCD team was undoubtedly our toughest opposition and closest match with an international fencer on the team we overcame them with our more evenly balance team to win Women’s Foil overall and take the top spot.

The Women’s Épée team headed by our very own Pentathlete Tal Coyle came 2^nd overall behind UCC by 3 bouts and ahead of NUIM by 6 bouts. They fenced admirably beating Griffith College 5-1 in their first match, UU 5-2 in their second, narrowly losing to UCD 5-3, and beating Maynooth 5-1. A heart stopping match against UCC ensued with delight and despair with each point scored for either us or them. The match was tied at 4-4 with DUFC ultimately losing 4-3 in the final bout during priority for a final result of 5-4 to UCC.

Men’s Sabre put on an extremely impressive display of quality Sabre action beating all opponents in their category and taking the title with a series of 5-0, 5-1 and 5-2 victories in the last matches of the day against UCD, DkIT, CIT, UCC, Queen’s and UU Coleraine.

This was the closest in terms of results in recent years with DUFC winning by one bout. DUFC, UCC and UCD were all tied on match victories at 28 apiece. In the end it came down to amount of individual bouts won. DUFC had 165 bout victories, UCD (2^nd)wereon 164 bout victories and UCC (3^rd) had 161 bout victories. Following some controversy the results were recalculated as above after a mistyped entry but DUFC came out on top retaining the Frank Russell Intervarsity Cup for the 5^th successive year.

We also won the new individual weapon trophies in Women’s Foil and Men’s Sabre being undefeated in each match in those weapons.

We are very proud of the whole squad and all of the supporters who showed up at the weekend. Once again we had the most vocal support and we always had a crowd at the end of the piste supporting those fencing, this display of squad unity undoubtedly contributed to our success.

We are proud to say that every member of the club contributed in some way to our success with everyone doing what they could either supporting or organising or just simply being there to help out in any way needed. We would also like to extend an enormous thank you to our DT, referees, DT’s assistants and to the clubs who travelled to Trinity for the weekend and took part. Well done everyone!

“I say Trinity, you say College.”

“Trinity”…”College”

“Trinity”…”College”

DUFC Teams and Final Results Below:

Trinity Team Foil & Dublin Epee 2012

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In the space of a week DUFC hosted three competitions, with over 150 fencers competing in total, the Duffy Épée, Trinity Team Foil and the Dublin Épée were all great triumphs, each in their own right.

On the weekend of 4^th / 5^th February the Trinity Team Foil took place followed by the equally successful Dublin Épée on the Sunday.

A total of eleven mixed teams entered the Team Foil this year. The mixed element added an extra dimension of competiveness between the teams. With some great fencing from all teams involved and some interesting names a good day was had by all who participated.

Pembroke one was eventually victorious over UCD NMGBRF in a drawn out finale. DUFC’s experienced fencers took joint third. While DUFC’s beginners had a strong presence taking 6^th and 7^th places showing that there is upcoming potential in DUFC.

As always during the course of the day we all got some bumps and bruises and had a few knocks and falls (you know who you are) hoping to improve our skills for the big competition.

The Dublin Épée followed on the Sunday with a turnout of twenty male athletes but unfortunately for the women’s event only four. As the men’s event kicked off it was clear there was some very strong opposition in the field. The eventual winner was Arthur Lanigan O’Keefe of Pentathlon Ireland who overcame Shane Whelan of Salle Duffy in a dramatic and well fought duel to take the Dublin Épée Cup.

For many DUFC Épéeists this was their first chance of competing in a ranked competition, they have done themselves and their club proud.

Despite the low turnout for the women’s event and the guaranteed medal the competition was no less challenging. Clodagh McCarthy Luddy fought well through two rounds of poules and a D.E. to take second place behind Anne Caroline Le Coultre of Switzerland, losing 15-5. Well done Clodagh.

This was also our first event that was live Tweeted. Stay up to date with all the latest DUFC news follow us @trinityfencing. Until we do it all again next year the full results from this year’s competitions are below:

Smith wins again: Norths 2011

Anna Smith doing something (probably pointing to the lucky side of the piste).

The North of Ireland Open saw the continuation of Anna Smith’s winning streak in Women’s Foil. Since her return from the snowy fields of Canada at the end of last Summer Anna has picked up the West of Ireland Open, Irish Open and now the North of Ireland Open championships as well as being on the winning team in the prestigious Trinity Cup. As in all the other finals of Anna’s other Open triumphs this season, her opponent at the last stage was UCD and Portugal’s Joana Ramalho. The tight final between the two at the Irish Open – at which Anna won by a single point, 15-14 – was not repeated in Belfast, however, as Anna’s movement and timing was too much for Ramalho and she won comfortably. DUFC had another podium finish in the Women’s Sabre where Helen Naddy came third in a small but strong field.

Elsewhere on the same weekend, Tal Coyle competed in a British National Selection pentathlon event in Bath coming 15th with a good result in her fencing event as well as a PB in the swimming.

Tal Coyle comes 31st at Pentathlon Junior World Championships

Tal Coyle competiting in the combined event in the Semi Finals of the 2010 Pentathlon Junior World Championships in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.

Continuing her busy and productive season of competitions, Tal Coyle – Irish pentathlete and DUFC fencer – travelled to Székesfehérvár, Hungary, to take part in the Pentathlon Junior World Championships. Tal’s performance in the final on Saturday, 7 August saw her finish in 31st position in an event that was won by one of the host country’s own athletes: Hungary’s Sarolta Kovacs. The team event was won by the Britain ahead of the Hungarians in second.

4 Nations, 2010

DUFC's Colm Flynn, Jack McHugh and Hannah Lowry-O'Reilly at the 4 Nations Match, June 2010.

NOW UPDATED WITH FULL RESULTS SHEET.

The 4 Nations event in Hatfield, England, saw Ireland fight hard against strong teams from England, Scotland and Wales. The Men’s Foil team of Conor Nagle, Evgeniy Kazantev and Chris Cooke fenced excellently, winning their matches against Wales and England but a loss to Scotland meant they were unable to retain the Men’s Foil title they won last year. Those two victories were Ireland’s only triumphs of the weekend despite some other close matches.

The weekend also saw Tal Coyle compete at the Pentathlon World Cup Finals in Moscow. Tal finished 33rd in a field involving only the best in the world this year.

Tal is famous in Meath (it’s a start…)

Tal Coyle, currently in Moscow to compete in the Pentathlon World Cup Finals, has been profiled in the very prestigious Meath Chronicle. The article can be found here.

Tal Coyle qualifies for pentathlon World Cup Finals!

Tal Coyle fencing in the Medway World Cup in April 2010.

Through her strong performances in several world cup events through the season, DUFC fencer and international pentathlete, Tal Coyle, has qualified for the World Cup final in Moscow on 19 June. The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) describes this event as where “the 2010 World Cup Series will come to an exciting climax (and) where the top men and women who have travelled the globe to collect points will battle it out to become World Cup Champion!”