Canadian Fencers Finish on Top in Junior/Cadet Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico
With a total of 15 medals ( 3 gold, 4 silver, 8 bronze) in individual competition and 5 medals in team competition (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), Canada finished first out of 17 participating countries at the Junior/Cadet Pan American Championships held Feb. 6-11, 2013 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Mexico finished second and the USA third in this zone Championship with important point and seeding implications for the 2013 Junior World Championships.
“This Pan American Championship is a phenomenal experience for our cadet and junior athletes to learn how to win,” noted Paul ApSimon, a 2012 Olympic Games Coach and the current Weapon Leader for Foil. “This event will help to prepare our athletes for other international events. The intensity of fencing with the Latin American countries is wonderful for our fencers to feel first hand.”
Reaching the top of the podium for Canada included: Eleanor Harvey (Hamilton, ON) in Women’s Junior Foil, Philippe Heidecker (Gatineau, QC) in Men’s Cadet Epee, Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger (Montreal, QC) in Men’s Junior Epee and the teams for Women’s Junior Foil and Men’s Junior Foil.
The women’s Junior Foil team swept the podium in individual competition and won gold in the team event. As a result, Canada now has two athletes ranked top 8 in the FIE World Junior rankings. Alanna Goldie who won both bronze (individual) and gold (team event) in Puerto Rico, is now ranked 5th in the world, with event double gold medalist (individual and team) Eleanor Harvey just behind her in 6th spot.
“This event was well organized and fun,” stated Alanna Goldie(Calgary, AB), who won Canada’s first ever gold medal in foil at a World Cup event in December. “Overall I was happy with my results at this tournament and it’s playing an important role in my preparation for the Junior World Championships in April.”
Men’s Saber athlete Cédric Boutet (Rosemère, QC), who won both a bronze (individual) and silver (team), and is in his last year as a junior had this to say about the event: “This tournament was a very good experience, to be able to perform at an international level with all of the Americans here. The chance to be here and to win is very good for us and for me in particular as I transition to the senior level now with more confidence.”
Outside of the medals, Canada had 7 additional athletes finish top 8 in individual competition, making the future look bright for high performance fencing in Canada.
A full list of participating athletes, their results and their hometowns is provided below.
For further information, please contact:
Caroline Sharp, Executive Director, Canadian Fencing Federation, ed@fencing.ca, 613-323-5605.
CADET MEN EPEE Philippe Heidecker (Gatineau, QC) GOLD Isaac Velestuk (Delta, BC) BRONZE CADET WOMEN EPEE Nancy (Qian) Ye (Markham, ON) SILVER Leyla-Élise Couture (Rimouski, QC) 8th CADET MEN FOIL Patrick Dula (Saskatoon, SK) SILVER Connor Hopkins (North Vancouver, BC) BRONZE Mikhail Sweet (Winnipeg, BC) 10th CADET WOMEN FOIL Elizabeth Hurtubise (St-Thérèse, QC) BRONZE Sofya Romashina (Richmond, BC) 7th Zoe Loh (Toronto, ON) 9th CADET MEN SABER Jihad Kabbaj (Montréal, QC) BRONZE Cameron Mackay (Kamloops, BC) 9th William Kinney (Mississauga, ON) 18th CADET WOMEN SABER Véronique Lamarre (Blainville, QC) SILVER Frédérique Bourget (Blainville, QC) 6th Tatiana Gayowsky (Hamilton, ON) 9th Maia Stempien (Saskatoon, SK) 17th JUNIOR MEN EPEE Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger (Montréal, QC) GOLD Isaac Velestuk (Delta, BC) 11th Philippe Heidecker (Gatineau, QC) 13th JUNIOR WOMEN EPEE Malinka Hoppe Montanaro (Montréal, QC) BRONZE Andrée-Anne Paquet (Blainville, QC) 5th Vanessa Lacas-Warrick (Chelsea, QC) 8th Brittany Mark-Larkin (Montréal, QC) 9th JUNIOR MEN FOIL Marc-Antoine Brodeur (Boucherville, QC) BRONZE Alastair Keyes (Ottawa, ON) 6th François-Olivier David (Sainte-Julie, QC) 11th Michael Hastings-Grgas (King City, ON) 26th JUNIOR WOMEN FOIL Eleanor Harvey (Hamilton, ON) GOLD Pamela Brind'Amour (Sainte-Martine, QC) SILVER Alanna Goldie (Calgary, AB) BRONZE Sofya Romashina (Richmond, BC) 19th JUNIOR MEN SABER Cédric Boutet (Rosemère, QC) BRONZE Cameron Mackay (Winnipeg, MB) 5th Jihad Kabbaj (Montréal, QC) 19th William Kinney (Mississauga, ON) 23rd JUNIOR WOMEN SABER Véronique Lamarre (Blainville, QC) 13th Lily Jiang (Edmonton, AB) 17th Frédérique Bourget (Blainville, QC) 20th Tatiana Gayowsky (Hamilton, ON) 23rd TEAM EVENT WOMEN FOIL - GOLD Alanna Goldie Eleanor Harvey Pamela Brind’Amour Sofya Romashina TEAM EVENT MEN FOIL - GOLD Alastair Keyes Francois-Olivier David Marc-Antoine Brodeur Michael Hasting- Grgas TEAM EVENT WOMEN EPEE-SILVER Andrée-Anne Paquet Brittany Mark-Larkin Malinka Hoppe-Montanaro Vanessa Lacas-Warrick TEAM EVENT MEN EPEE-SILVER Isaac Velestuk Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger Michael Hastings-Grgas Philippe Heidecker TEAM EVENT MEN SABER-BRONZE Cameron Mackay Cédric Boutet Jihad Kabbaj William Kinney TEAM EVENT WOMEN SABER– 4th Frédérique Bourget Lily Jiang Tatiana Gayowsky Véronique Lamarre