Body Text Images:
Teenage fencers breaking new ground
SOME SPORTS have reputations that ooze privilege and exclusivity, an aura that may deter those born without a silver spoon from taking part.
Polo, tennis, golf, yachting are to name a few. And then there is fencing – a historic sport of kings, princes and European nobility.
An Olympic sport since the inaugural modern Games was held in 1896 in Athens, fencing’s roots go back to the ancient past time of duelling with swords, and some claim the modern sport originated in Africa and was brought to Europe by the Spanish.
Yet despite its intimidating history and elitist stature, 13-year-olds Tia Simms Lymn and Yasmine Fosu are taking the fencing world by storm.
The ultra keen, blade-wielding competitors are number one and two, respectively, for their age group in this country. And due to their determination to gain more competitive experience they have turned their backs on representing Team GB and broken new ground, going back to their parental heritage, by choosing Jamaica and Ghana instead.
FOCUSSED: The 13-year-old Yasmine displays her silverware
“For Jamaica and Ghana it’s a lot easier to get more experience,” Tia tells the Voice of Sport. “It’s really good because we get to travel to a lot more competitions, whereas if you’re on the GB team you only get specific competitions you can do,” adds the softly spoken teenager, who is the first person to fence for Jamaica at international level.
It is about flexibility and progression for the girls. Yasmine, who has been fencing three years compared to Tia’s six, exudes innate, bubbly confidence as she explains why she chose Ghana and describes the feeling she gets drawing her sword for her nation.
“You just want to do your country proud, but there’s a bit of pressure because you don’t want to let other people down and you just want to be a role model for younger people,” the number two says.
“And you want to prove people wrong, because they think that me and Tia are too young to get selected [for GB fencing].
“If we were to go through GB, we’d have to go through [it’s] juniors and by [the end of it] we’d be 20. So the British Fencing Association think we’re too young to go to these competitions.”
Although the girls take their sport seriously, their capacity for hard work seems not to have sapped the fun out of fencing.
SCHOLARSHIP: Tia outside Plymouth College
“It’s an adrenaline rush; it makes you full of energy even though you’re tired,” Tia says with a shy smile.
The bittersweet loneliness of success and failure is an aspect Yasmine clearly savours. “It can make you really upset though,” says the Ghanaian fencer. “If you lose you know it’s your fault, because it’s not a team sport, so everything is down to you, your training and how seriously you’re taking it.
“You have to train the way you want to go into a competition – you want to take your training into the competition.”
Like any other individual sport, mental strength is critical to beating an opponent, and Yasmine knows this all too well.
“I have one of the worst mentalities at our club,” she says unashamedly, Tia giggling at her friend’s honesty. “I lose focus really easily, but my coach, Andy Hill, has been working on me to make my mentality better, because I go to competitions and lose focus.”
Her coach’s solution is rather simple: stop talking to other people. The talkative Yasmine loves a good chat, but she is learning there is a time and place.
“It’s just how not to get into conversations with people, I guess. It sounds really anti-social, but when you’re at a competition that’s what you have to do.” It is a sacrifice the friendly fencer seems willing to make for competitiveness’ sake.
Their diverse background to most others in fencing is something the girls celebrate. Tia says her peers are inquisitive and “it’s quite fun because you get all these other people coming around and asking you what it’s like [to be different].”
With their promising careers ahead, both are grateful for the scholarships they have received from Plymouth College, a school which sent four students to be Olympians in London 2012. It was one of the best events of her life, Yasmine says of the moment last year when her coach offered the scholarship.
“It’s a great sport and you should definitely try it,” Yasmine says, eager to see more people take up fencing.
And despite a natural competitive streak, Tia believes it is not all about winning. “Just try it out, you don’t have to be amazing at it,” she adds. “It’s just for fun and it keeps you in good shape, and it’s great fun to be around people.”