FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2013 Summer Universiade
16 fencers to represent Canada in Kazan

June 21, 2013

OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with the Canadian Fencing Federation, announced Friday the 16 student-athletes who will represent Canada in fencing at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia.

Summer Universiade website: http://www.kazan2013.com/en

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2013

This is the largest fencing contingent the country has sent to the world university games since 1993, when 25 Canadians crossed the border to compete in Buffalo.

The women’s roster heading to Kazan is comprised of Chantel Helwer of Moncton, N.B., Valérie Hogues of Montreal, Karis Langvand of Red Deer, Alta., Vivian Poon of Mississauga, Ont., and Aimée Schryer of Saskatoon. Hogues, Langvand and Poon are entered in the epee tournament, while Helwer and Schryer will compete in the sabre and foil events, respectively.

On the men’s side, Kerr Hutchinson of Kingston, Ont., Marc-André Leblanc of Moncton, David Shorey of Vancouver and John Wright of Ottawa will battle in the epee tourney. Cédric Boutet of Laval, Que., Julien Hogues of Montreal and Paul Pietrusinski of North Vancouver are set to compete in the sabre, while Haig Basmadjian of Calgary, Scott Dudiak of Saskatoon, François Provencher of Ottawa and Jean-Marc Turk, also of Ottawa, will participate in the foil competition.

Rounding out the delegation are coach Patricia Howes from Royal Military College, as well as team leader and former Olympian Jacques Cardyn.

Leblanc is the only team member with previous Universiade experience (2005, 2009). The University of Ottawa student achieved one of the best international performances of his career last summer when he finished seventh at a World Cup event in Argentina and, along with Wright, helped the Canadian men win a silver medal in the team competition.

Many other members of the squad have also represented Canada on the national stage in recent years, including Shryer, who travelled to Hungary last February for a World Cup tournament.

Canadian fencers have captured two Universiade medals over the years, including a silver in the men’s team epee competition in 1987 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, and a third-place finish by Madeleine Philion in foil in 1983 in Edmonton.

The Kazan tourney is set for July 6 to 12.

TEAM CANADA ROSTER

Name                           University                   Hometown                  Event  

Women

Chantel Helwer            Manitoba                      Moncton, N.B.             Sabre
Valérie Hogues            Montreal                      Montreal, Que.            Epee
Karis Langvand            Calgary                       Red Deer, Alta.           Epee
Vivian Poon               Western                       Mississauga, Ont.         Epee
Aimée Schryer             Saskatchewan                  Saskatoon, Sask.          Foil

Men

Haig Basmadjian           UBC                           Calgary, Alta.              Foil
Cédric Boutet             Concordia                     Laval, Que.                 Sabre
Scott Dudiak              Saskatchewan                  Saskatoon, Sask.            Foil
Julien Hogues             Concordia                     Montreal, Que.              Sabre
Kerr Hutchinson           Ottawa                        Kingston, Ont.              Epee
Marc-André Leblanc        Ottawa                        Moncton, N.B.               Epee
Paul Pietrusinski         Simon Fraser                  North Vancouver, B.C.       Sabre
François Provencher       Carleton                      Ottawa, Ont.                Foil
David Shorey              Simon Fraser                  Vancouver, B.C.             Epee
Jean-Marc Turk            McGill                        Ottawa, Ont.                Foil
John Wright               Ottawa                        Ottawa, Ont.                Epee

 

Position                       Name                           University                   Hometown                 

Coach                          Patricia Howes             RMC                              Montreal, Que.
Team Leader                    Jacques Cardyn             -                                Montreal, Que.

CANADA’S ALL-TIME UNIVERSIADE MEDALS IN FENCING:

Silver
1987 (Zagreb, Yugoslavia): Men’s Team Epee

Bronze
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Madeleine Philion (foil)

About the Summer Universiade

The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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-CIS-

For more information:

Michel Bélanger

Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Off: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca