Fencing Phenom: Noah’s Triumphs from Prep 4 to GB Victory

Noah’s fencing story started in Prep 4 (aged 8) when he decided to try sword fencing with me at Hatherop. Noah said “I became interested in sword fencing through Mr Bromley’s (Neil) in-school club. Duelling with my friends greatly appealed. As I learnt more so I became hooked on the sport
as it combines strategic thinking with fast reflexes to catch an opponent off guard. After doing well in the local competitions Neil organises with other clubs, I wanted to see how far I could go and started doing Leon Paul Junior Series (LPJS) events around the country. I then added Elite Epee as well so I was busy competing most weekends.”

Noah first qualified for the British Youth Championships in Year 5. Getting there is an achievement in itself as he had to finish in the top 8 in the Southern region (made up of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire) just to get a place at the national finals. Seeing so many fencers competing in one place over three days inspired Noah even further. His potential was recognised by a group of England Coaches who ran the Tomorrow’s Achievers Programme. These are bespoke training weekends where access is by invitation only. He successfully completed a trial session, being put through a series of fitness and blade skill exercises while demonstrating his fencing ability through competitive bouts against several existing members. He was accepted on to the programme, and these sessions, together with ongoing training, led to Noah winning the Cocksmoor Wood tournament twice and also an Elite Epee event at Molton College. Through his consistent high ranking results, Noah was asked to join the England national squad’s youth team, where he travelled to Poland to compete at Challenge Wratislavia with the England team to fence with 3000 other children from around the world. It was an incredible experience at such a young age competing with the best fencers from Poland, Romania, USA, France, Egypt and India, among many other countries.

Back to Noah….. “Amongst other accomplishments, as I got older, I achieved back-to- back wins at the Dunstan foil (u11 and u13 even when young for the higher age group), I became a multi time Wiltshire & Gloucester County Champion and in my final year I won IAPS silver, became the U13 ISA schools champion in foil, won silver in epee and silver in sabre, becoming the ISA national Man-at-Arms Champion”.

Moving to Malvern College so he could continue his fencing, Noah focussed on epee and continued achieving podium places as well as winning both Elite Epee and LPJS competitions. In 2019 at the England Youth Championships Noah won a bronze medal. At the British Youth Championships he was always in the last 16 or last 8 but kept narrowly missing out on a podium place. “Fencing is a metaphor for life. We keep getting knocked back, but it is how your respond to setbacks and challenges that show us for who we really are and that is why I love fencing – there’s always someone out there who on their day can be one or two hits better than you and it is how you respond to them, fencing on my terms not
theirs, showing I have more resilience than them to ultimately pull through”.

2024 was Noah’s very last year at the BYCs. Going into the event he felt calm and ready to go. “Neil always talks about focussing on the next hit because breaking down a fight into single hits means the end result should take care of itself as long as a fencer’s distance, speed and timing are correct. I was pleased to win my pool and be seeded 11th. Being mid-table takes the pressure off until the later rounds. I had a bye in the last 64 and had a comfortable 15-6 win in the last 32. The last 16 was closer at 15-11 but once I had worked out my opponent I was able to pick the right opportunity to score. The quarter finals is very much the business end of the competition where everyone is dangerous though once I had a lead I was
able to go for double hits to win 15-13. The semi-final was always going to be hard. Cador Beautyman is ranked 9th in the world at U20 though it had been a long time since we met each other in competition. My strategy was to stay with him until the end of the fight and again take opportunities as
they presented themselves. I was thrilled to win 15-13 and take my place in the final. My opponent was a fellow West Midlands fencer so we know each other well. I’ve been working on my speed reflex training so was able to catch him off guard on a couple of occasions to build a three hit lead which took me to 15 and my first GB win. It felt incredible and I still have to pinch myself now”.

Hatherop Coach Neil said: “Noah is a natural fencer who’s patient tenacious style serves him well. He mixes timing and distance with an instinctive ability to catch an opponent off-guard and score hits. He thoroughly deserves this win and it is a great send-off for him in his last year at the BYCs. He has always had a strong will to persevere which is one of the cornerstones of education at Hatherop – keep trying, keep persevering and the results will come. I am immensely proud of him and all his achievements
to date – it’s incredible how far he has come from that day in September when a smiling, blond haired boy entered the Hatherop gym wanting to try fencing.”