April 21 – The last day of Individual competition saw Women’s Foil and Men’s Sabre in action.  Both weapons had some strong performances overall but Canada’s medal streak unfortunately came to an end.

The women’s foil athletes were up first and came into the event as strong medal hopefuls.  Kelleigh Ryan (Ottawa, ON) won silver at the 2014 Senior Pan Am Championships. Eleanor Harvey (Hamilton, ON) recently won silver at the 2015 Junior World Championships and teammate Alanna Goldie (Calgary, ON) won bronze at the NCAA Fencing Championships last month. 

The day unfortunately did not quite go as planned.  The athletes were in good position after pools, with Goldie ranked 3^rd, Harvey ranked 6^th, Ryan ranked 15^th and Shannon Comerford (Saskatoon, SK) ranked 21^st, and all headed to the next round. Goldie’s tournament unfortunately came to an end when she lost a heartbreaker in the round of 32.  Ryan and Comerford both fell in the round of 16 while Harvey advanced to the round of 8.  Harvey’s run to the podium came to an end when she lost 15-11 against Isis Gimenez from Venezuela. “I felt pretty good for most of the day,” said Harvey. “In the end I felt a bit stuck and had no ideas.”

Stated Women’s Foil National Program coach, Paul ApSimon: “Eleanor's top 8 was a step in the right direction. She's had success with two Junior World Championship medals and this is the first time for a top 8 result at a senior tournament which puts her in a good position for the Olympic qualifying season.” 

Men’s Sabre’s top placing was also top 8.  Joseph Polossifakis (Laval, QC) lost his round of 8 match 15-8 against USA’s Eli Dershwitz to earn Canada’s top spot.  Mark Peros (Toronto, ON) fell in the round of 16 while Shaul Gordon (Richmond, BC) finished top 32 and Remi Bedard Couture (Montreal, QC) finished top 64.

Benjamin Manano, National Program Coach for Men’s Sabre had this to say: “Joseph Polossifakis finished in 5^th place which is not the placing he was hoping for at the start of the day, but given that he has been battling injuries for the last month, he is demonstrating that he is finding his way and is on the right track.”

The Senior Pan Am Championships are an important event in the Olympic qualification process for Rio and Canada’s two individual medals of bronze for Leonora Mackinnon in Women’s Epee and silver for Maxime Brinck-Croteau in Men’s Epee, place these athletes in a good position for individual qualification.  Up next are the Team events with Women’s Epee and Men’s Foil Teams in action Tuesday.  Strong team results will place Canada in a good position to qualify three athletes for Individual and team competition in each Weapon present at the Games.

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