Training Camps and Competitions

Training Camps and Competitions

Hello again!

The season has started with a few things so far. The first was a training camp in Vancouver, Washington for 4 days. It was very nice to get to put my offseason training to the test! I improved a lot in skill and judgement and especially in endurance. Previously I was getting tired after pools and 1 DE, now I can do pools and 3 DEs, possibly more. This is an excellent milestone as I need to do pools and 5 DEs to win a competition, with each DE being harder than the last. Aside from that I got some excellent bouting in with my friend Matteo from Italy who is a paralympian and has won World Cups. I did very well against him and improved a ton from the last time we fenced.

After that it was off to Atlanta, Georgia to the Shepherd Center for a 2 day walk and roll competition. There were about 4 para athletes and 10 able bodied athletes competing. I won both days in saber and epee and did not do foil, and earned my E24 rating in epee :). Fencers are rated similar to chess masters based on who they have beaten with letters from E (lowest) to A (highest). Para athletes can be rated but there aren’t enough people with high letters to really progress right now. Getting my E does start expanding the pool though!

Immediately after Atlanta I flew out to the next training camp in Barcelona, Spain. I will be here for a few weeks training with the Argentinian and Spanish teams, and another paralympian. I did have to miss the evaluation camp at the Olympic Training Center but everyone agreed this opportunity was worth it. Barcelona is beautiful and I look forward to exploring the city more and making more friends here!