2008 Open Air results
The forecast of “torrential rain” for Sunday 6 July could not deter 52 male and 21 female epee fencers from attending the yearly al-fresco fencing tournament in Cambridge. A stiff breeze pushed dark mountains of clouds past our venue during the first 2 rounds of pools. The timid suggestions to retreat in-doors were met with allegations of cricketer mentality but the rain caught up with us eventually.
Despite a number of international fencers it came as a surprise that both events were won by our friends from the colonies. Chris Flounders from New York City (now Salle Gadaski) clinched the title in a nail-biting 15:14 fight against Eryn Spinlove (Birmingham). A Canadian business man on a 7-day trip to Cambridge had brought his kit along and won the men’s title in an equally close final (Dave Arthurs, Ottawa – Gareth Rouse, Haverstock; 15:14). During the prize presentation under lovely blue skies, the organisers managed to forget mentioning the proud achievement of their most regular attendant, Ivan Ward from Huntingdon, who had just enjoyed his 26th consecutive Open Air.
Full results can be found here:
July 14th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
This was my first competition having taken fencing up just a mere 6 months ago. I have to say I really enjoyed it, and found all the competitors I fought against (and others I didn’t) really friendly. I learnt quite a lot in my brief day and look forward to returning next year. Thanks to the organisers for a great day