Canada’s men’s foil team had a successful day Wednesday at the 2014 Pan Am Fencing Championships in Costa Rica.  The team of Etienne Lalonde-Turbide (Montreal), Anthony Prymack (Montreal), Maximilien Van Haaster (Montreal) and Eli Schenkel (Toronto) brought home silver for Canada. 

It was a challenging road to the final, with Canada facing a tough Brazil squad in their semi-final bout.  Canada and Brazil are closely ranked which was reflected in the final score of 45-44, with Canada however coming out on top.

“Yesterday was a success for men's foil,” stated Anthony Prymack. “We managed to beat Brazil 45-44 even with their new French recruit Perrier.  Our goal was achieved by beating Brazil as they are our main competition to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.”

In the final, Canada faced a tough USA team that is currently ranked third in the world, and lost 45-26. Despite the final score, the team feels that their silver medal proves that they are on track. “We would not be able to achieve this result without our coach Alex Kuznetsov,” noted Prymack. “He has been working with us throughout the season and has kept the team focussed and disciplined. We are looking forward to the World Championships in Kazan so we can show more results in the individual and team events.”

Canada’s men’s epee team had a successful day yesterday, winning silver. The team, composed of Vincent Pelletier (Quebec), Hugues Boisvert-Simard (Quebec), Marc Andre Leblanc (Ottawa) and Pascal Heidecker (Gatineau) defeated USA in their semi-final bout 45-35 to advance to the final. This was an important win for Canada. The USA is currently ranked 10^th in the World and will likely be Canada’s main competition for an Olympic berth in Rio 2016.  The team lost steam after the USA win, losing a close bout to Cuba, 45-40 to finish with the silver medal.

In action today, the last day of the competition, are the women’s foil and men’s sabre teams.

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