All good things must come to an end and this is also true of The Fencing Podcast. This is our final episode and, in truth, there is very little chat about actual fencing but we hope you enjoy it anyway. Special Thanks: To all of our Patrons and our sponsors Leon Paul. Without your support this podcast would never have been possible. To Michelle Golding for the logo and support - your help was much appreciated in getting the good ship Fencing Podcast afloat. To Chris Heaps whose banjo antics you ...
Oct 02, 2021•28 min•Ep. 66
Gav updates us on his travel plans and his vital contribution to the Games. Kate, Gav and Sean put their heads together to make their predictions for the Tokyo Olympics and find that they are, disconcertingly, often in agreement. We also find that the Prediction Game that we’re playing against each other brings out our worst competitive instincts. We’d love to hear your predictions and the thinking behind them (see the description below and email: thefencingpodcast@gmail.com ) The team also reve...
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 65
This week Kate, Sean and Gav look back at their highlights of the Cadet & Junior World Championships in Cairo and look forward to the Olympic zonal qualifiers. Kate and Gav invent ASMR fencing commentary and Sean pays tribute to the late President of British Fencing, Keith Smith. Sean also chats to Johnny Davis, the British team manager, prior to the European zonal qualifiers in Madrid. Our lovely sponsors: Leon Paul London - Iconic Fencing Equipment made in London Join our equally lovely Pa...
Apr 23, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 65
Sean talks a load of foil (Kate and Gav get to chip in occasionally) as the action heads to Doha for the foil Grand Prix. The return of the game (foil, obviously) and while there were a lot of early departures, there were also a lot of familiar faces at the end of the day. Olympic places were decided, some big names miss out. Gav shares some horrifying mental images early in the episode so make sure you're sitting down. Good times and sad times for British Fencing. Our lovely sponsors: Leon Paul...
Apr 04, 2021•49 min•Ep. 63
In this episode the team discuss a week of epee… well almost. It took several days for the final Epee world cup in Kazan to run! And as you’d expect in this era it was carnage. Gav gets very excited about the mens epee team final, quite right too. Kate even admits she watched some of it! All the videos on the FIE YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/FIEvideo/videos All the results https://fie.org/competitions And you should definitely follow Dave Baker's Facebook page all about the qualific...
Mar 27, 2021•50 min•Ep. 62
Episode 61: All The Sabre Dudes Kate, Gav and Sean actually have some real, live fencing to talk about!! Budapest saw international fencing return with a men's and women's sabre World Cup and it was glorious. Everything you could have asked for including more Olympic qualification, some surprises, a few absentees, additional face masks and potentially some Olympic dress rehearsals. Our lovely sponsors: https://www.leonpaul.com/ Join our equally lovely Patreon supporters: https://www.patreon.com/...
Mar 19, 2021•44 min•Ep. 62
Good news! Fencing is back … of sorts. It’s almost a year to the day and so we’ve decided to get the gang back together again. Hurrah. Our lovely sponsors: https://www.leonpaul.com/ Join our equally lovely Patreon supporters: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869&fan_landing=true Leon Paul & Brexit: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/17/shock-brexit-charges-are-hurting-us-say-small-british-businesses Upcoming competitions: https://fie.org/competitions...
Mar 09, 2021•39 min•Ep. 60
The gang are all together again and we’re edging towards the end of the Olympic qualification process which means some fencers will be celebrating guaranteeing their place in Tokyo while others will be heartbroken. Sean tracks the foil action from Cairo (men’s) and Kazan (women’s) as the team places are sorted out for the Olympics and some fencers do themselves the world of good for individual qualification. Kate gets very excited about the men’s sabre in Warsaw and finds her thing to have a min...
Mar 02, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 59
It’s [mostly] epee day here at Podcast towers. Sean & Gav talk about the recent epee competitions: Doha, Barcelona, Vancouver. That’s a lot of epee. The Fencing is great but there’s something bothering both of them, listen and find out what. And then there’s the Turin Grand Prix! Also some interesting stuff in the fencing news, a new film has entered production and Race Imboden has an Ask Me Anything on Reddit! Doha Epee Grand Prix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDjJGK1LPN8 Barcelona Womens...
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 58
It's a bit late but in this episode, Sean and Gav are back from Paris with tales of daring and heroism (not their own). We cover all the action from Katowice (women's foil), Heidenheim (men's epee) and we mull over the results from the impossible to follow women's epee action from Havana. And Kate plays a blinder by being rude to Sean and Gav, insulting a prominent Russian women's sabreur and her own coach while talking us through the Montreal sabre Grand Prix. Top effort! The Coolest Fencer on ...
Jan 31, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 57
Sean and Gav are in France for their annual pilgrimage to the best World Cup on the planet, the Challenge International de Paris men’s foil (CIP). After a long day of commentary duties for the French Federation, we settle in to the hotel bar with a beer to look back on the day’s action. And it really was an incredible day of fencing. CIP: Day 1 - Individuals https://youtu.be/A6bAdefeLLM Permalink...
Jan 11, 2020•Ep. 56
All the pre-Christmas action from St Maur, Salt Lake City and Tokyo. Sean admits to jealousy as he stayed behind to man the Podcast desks while Kate competed in Salt Lake City while Gav, astonishingly, was tapped to be the hall announcer at the Tokyo World Cup. This event was also the test event for the upcoming Olympic Games next year! Videos of all the action: Salt Lake City Women’s Sabre World Cup Individual playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1qrF2wPY-WJ5gpW_3ODBI7h4m8WA6MVL Sal...
Dec 30, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 55
The gang are all together again! We have our first meeting of the Fencing Podcast Book Club with two fine publications to review. Sean has some fatherly words for Cairo following the men’s sabre and women’s foil World Cups held there recently, Gav gets out the spreadsheets to describe men’s epee action from Berne and Kate tells us about what it was like competing in the Orleans women’s sabre and why the home crowd were happy*. Also, trouble looming for Russia, The Coolest Fencer on the Planet an...
Dec 09, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 54
The 2019/20 season gets under way and Tokyo 2020 is on the horizon! Sean and Gav are back to tell you all about the early-season action from Tallinn and Bonn but where’s Kate?!? Sean describes the joys of being a travelling fencing fan and guest commentator while Gav finds a downside to having a big television. We’re encouraged by a faith in youth. Thanks to our lovely sponsors Leon Paul. Their support for The Fencing Podcast is immense https://www.leonpaul.com/ And to our equally lovely Patreon...
Nov 22, 2019•54 min•Ep. 53
The trio sit down and discuss the action from Budapest. Kate updates us on what she did on her holidays and we ponder the phenomenon of “taking the knee”. We also pick our top fencer of the year! Strap yourselves in as we end the season!
Sep 01, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 52
Women’s sabre and men’s foil. Sean and Gav reporting on all the action from Day 3 of the World Championships in Budapest. Gav steps in to report on the sabre action and has two giants of the sport renewing their rivalry. Sean covers the mayhem of the men’s foil and has a good news story for British Fencing and France. The debate over Coolest Fencer on the Planet is mercifully short. Thanks to our lovely sponsors Leon Paul for getting us here https://www.leonpaul.com/ And to our equally lovely Pa...
Jul 21, 2019•20 min•Season 2Ep. 51
Individual men's epee and women's foil. Sean and Gav reporting from Budapest with a predictably unpredictable men's epee competition and some giants of the sport in women's foil. Sean was the voice of the fencing telly for some of the time and Gav had a day of bliss. Thanks to our lovely sponsors Leon Paul for getting us here https://www.leonpaul.com/ And to our equally lovely Patreon supporters, you keep the lights on! Come join them: https://www.patreon.com/join/730440 ? Day 2 Finals on YouTub...
Jul 20, 2019•20 min•Season 2Ep. 50
Welcome to the first finals day from the World Championships in Budapest. Sean and Gav guide you through the action in individual women’s epee and men’s sabre. Surprises, nerves, awesomeness, home crowds and Sean feeling smug about his sabre predictions. Thanks to our lovely sponsors Leon Paul for getting us here https://www.leonpaul.com/ And to our equally lovely Patreon supporters, you keep the lights on! Come join them: https://www.patreon.com/join/730440 ? Day 1 finals: Individual women’s ep...
Jul 19, 2019•19 min•Ep. 49
After a technical hitch (no blame attached) which means this episode is quite a bit shorter than originally planned, Sean, Gav and Kate make their predictions for the upcoming World Championships in Budapest. Kate will be there competing, while Sean and Gav will be generally loafing around. Thanks as always to our lovely sponsor: leonpaul.com Become a better person, become a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869 Event website: www.2019budapest.com/ Live streams will be on the...
Jul 14, 2019•25 min•Ep. 48
Sean and Gav are joined by a new co-host - GB international sabreur Kate Daykin. Together they look at the end of the regular season from Paris (again), Shanghai, Dubai and Moscow. Sean presents his homage to Deriglazova, Gav reveals his most embarrassing fencing moment and Kate seeks haircare tips from Velikaya. Coolest Fencer on the Planet is more hotly contested than ever." Become a better person, become a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869 A massive shout-out to our sp...
Jun 12, 2019•1 hr 39 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Sean and Gav are live(ish) from Paris where they are both at the Challenge SNCF Reseau. This is the largest Epee event on the calendar and like Paris attracts a fine crowd of local Parisians. This time around we have a guest presenter -Dave Baker, FIE Ref, commision member and all round good aussie bloke. Here us discuss the event from our hotel bar. A massive shout out to our guest commentators: David Shevelew Calum Maynard Patrick Jorgensen Become a better person, become a Patreon supporter: h...
May 18, 2019•43 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Sean and Gav are back to Seniors action as the hectic season continues and Olympic qualification begins. Gav has a moment of revelation while watching the women's epee from Cali, Sean enjoys an oldies get-together in St Petersburg, Gav considers some unpleasant options for funding a trip to the Tokyo Olympics and there is much sabre awesomeness in Seoul. And Deriglazova wins. Again. Become a better person, become a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869 A massive shout-out to ...
May 13, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Well, sort-of… We are back from Poland with our feet up, recapping our time in Torun last week. It’s no spoiler to say that we had a tremdendous time in a beautiful city watching one of the best presented Cadet and Junior World Championships they’ve ever seen. This episode covers the last few days and follows on from our last episode. All the action is on the FIE YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FIEvideo/videos Check out the results and medal table over on FencingTimeLive.com: https...
Apr 18, 2019•32 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Sean and Gav are in Torun in Poland for the World Cadet and Junior Championships. In this first part we discuss the action from the first five days covering all the sabre events and the foil cadet and junior individuals. Italy and Eastern Europe dominate in sabre, Liza Pusztai redeems herself, Russia rule the roost in men’s foil and Lauren Scruggs does the double. Also, Torun is beautiful with a golden donkey, the venue’s immense, Gav is obsessed by lighting and sean gets a shiny new toy from Le...
Apr 12, 2019•31 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Welcome to episode 42. How many tournaments can we talk about? Our lovely sponsors - https://www.leonpaul.com/ Become a better person, become a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869 TONS of action this episode. Let’s start off with a bit of contrition. We missed Barcelona Women’s Epee last episode. it’s so busy at this time of the year that it feels easy to miss something. We feel bad, especially Gav who does watch Womens Epee. We had a discussion on the role of commentary. G...
Mar 22, 2019•1 hr 28 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Arianna interviews fencing's most successful and glamorous couple, Olympic men's foil champion Daniele Garozzo and women's foil world champion Alice Volpi. There's been a deluge of action - Warsaw men's sabre, Turin foil Grand Prix, Vancouver men's epee and Cairo sabre Grand Prix. Sean forgets his notes and Gav names his favourite children's television programmes. It's all here!
Mar 02, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Sean and Gav celebrate the podcast's 40th with a feast of fencing. Tokyo men's foil World Cup in Japan, St Maur women's foil World Cup in France, Salt Lake City women's sabre World Cup in the USA and women's and men's epee Grand Prix from Doha, Qatar. Kruse on top of the world, Borel returns, Estonia in the limelight and the French in fine form around the globe. Much to enjoy! Links: Our lovely sponsors - https://www.leonpaul.com/ Become a better person, become a Patreon supporter: https://www.p...
Feb 07, 2019•1 hr 35 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Sean and Gav go to Paris for the Challenge International de Paris and spend all weekend working. While in Paris we met up with the lovely Arianna Scarnecchia of PianetaScherma who have kindly allowed us to share an interview with Race Imboden. While we are in Paris, elsewhere in Europe Heidenheim men's epee was in full swing. It’s a stupidly big competition and sees the first run out of the new non-combativity “Unwillingnes to Fence” rules. Katowice women's foil sees a mixture of the familiar an...
Jan 25, 2019•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 39
We look at the decisions of the FIE Congress (and are appalled), discuss the action from Algiers (Mens Sabre and Womens Foil) and Gav expresses his disappointment with a result that he should love… you’ll have to listen to find out why. Coolest fencer on the planet is a bit of a surprise… no spoilers! Also a large shout out to the returning Mamatletas! We find searching Kabcom for the relevant links a bit difficult. Rest assuered, it’s all in here somewhere! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRKc...
Dec 17, 2018•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Sean and Gav get back into action and take a look at the upcoming FIE Congress. Sean interviews the Chair of the Women & Fencing Council, Dr Stacey Johnson. The season gets underway with the first Senior World Cups from Tallinn (women's epee), Orleans (women's sabre) and Bonn (men's foil). But the interesting question is who will win our much-coveted Coolest Fencer on the Planet award?
Nov 19, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 36
