West Lothian Fencing Club marked a milestone in style as they bagged eight medals at the recent Scottish Youth Championships.
It was the latest in a long list of incredible achievements for the club – which celebrated their fifth anniversary last month.
Since then, club members have won two Scottish youth sabre titles, British and Commonwealth veteran titles as well as consistently performing well on the national and international stages.
That was evident again at the Scottish Youth Championships in Edinburgh where nine club members competed and produced a string of impressive performances, with the quality of the club’s fencing shining through.
The fencers combined to tally one gold medal along with four silvers and three bronzes, while every club member sealed a top-10 spot in their respective events.
Thea Todd was the gold medal winner as she proved unbeatable in the under-15 girls’ sabre event.
In the same discipline, there was a silver for Guy Lumsden in the under-15 boys and bronzes for Brodie MacDonald in the under-17 boys’ and Griffin Manning in the under-20 men’s event.
Epee proved a fruitful discipline for the club, too, with a total of three silvers and a bronze across four different age groups.
Matt Davies finished as runner-up in the under-13 boys event which was matched by Cailean Stewart at under-15 level.
In the older age categories, it was a brilliant bronze for Sophie Feldbauer at under-17s with Laura Davies going one better and picking up a silver in the under-20 women’s event.
The club, which meets three times a week at Bathgate Academy, now boasts more than 40 members ranging from beginner to internationalists.
Head coach Kev Milne, who started the club, said: “West Lothian Fencing Club doesn’t run separate groups for adults and children or for beginners and performance athletes, instead building a community that everyone is part of. It means a beginner has the chance of pitting themselves against an internationalist and having an idea of what they need to do in order to get to that level.”
Along with a healthy number of members, the club also has five fully qualified coaches, with Milne and senior coach Bruce McCaig also looking to ensure some of the more senior under-18 fencers can be brought into
the coaching fold to help the next generation.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/WestLothianFencingclub.
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