http://usfencingresults.org/results/2014-2015/2015.06-JUN-SN/FTEvent_2015Jun27_DV3ME.htm
A super fun pool in which I did well and felt very confident. Then I won my first DE with a comfortable lead, slightly eroded in the end (I was glad to have a few points to spare for mistakes). Lost my second DE but felt like I fenced well enough and could have won had things gone a little differently, or if I could fence this guy again, having learned about his style.
The day before I browsed the vendors and got new knickers—Leon Paul Phoenix level. This div3 event was the first time I fenced in them and they felt soooo much better than the cheap, old Blue Gauntlet knickers I had been using. I think I fenced better with them. I had come to hate my old ones, and wearing these made me really really hate them. Glad to be rid of them. Of course the new ones are so brilliantly white my jacket looks grey. I tried on the LP Phoenix jacket and it felt very nice. But one thing at a time. Plus I only just got my name put on my jacket!
I was in pool #16, on strip D4. As in vet40 I had a couple friends in my pod. Shawn Dodge was on strip D2 and Jeff Johnson was on D3. In the DEs I stayed in the D pod with Jeff, joined by Kyle Margolies. Shawn went to another pod for his DEs. Luckily I didn't have to fence any of them. I joked that if Kyle and I had to fence a DE I was going to complain to someone.
As with the vet40 event I didn't take notes and so don't have much of a play-by-play. I wrote down some basic stuff a day or two later, but this may be a minimal report.
POOLS
My first bout was with Eugene Vinitsky and I lost badly, 1-5. My sister and I kinda came up with nicknames or identifying qualities of most of the fencers in my pool. Eugene, we agreed, was just very happy. He was very nice, chatty, and seemed just thrilled about being there and everything that was happening. Which was much like I felt, really (my "nicknames" I used in my notes to remember better included happy, bear, leftie, and bouncy). Overall Eugene did well, going four and two like me, but with a slightly higher indicator. Later in the pool we talked and he said I was doing well, and that he thought maybe he was lucky to have fenced me first. And yes, I suspect I would have done better against him later in the pool. But then maybe I would have had trouble with whoever I fenced first. Anyway, Eugene took 2nd place in our pool (I came in 3rd).
My second bout was with Joseph Chong, and I won 5-1, turning around that first 1-5 loss. I think I scored almost entirely by working the distance and waiting for him to step just a little too close. From that point on I felt more and more confident. And working the distance was my main tactic. Throughout the pool Russ kept telling me to stay active, "in and out". Mostly I'd start with quick aggressive forward footwork, then fall back into a long, slow retreating pattern, all mixed up with threats, body feints, and such—trying to draw attacks from too far and/or lure people in too close. Mostly it worked quite well, I think. Everyone in my pool was a lot younger than me. They were decent enough, but I think my sense of distance was better, mostly.
My next bout was with Myles Bear. We had a closer bout. I think we went 4-4 and I squeaked out the last point to win 5-4. Later Myles told me he was mainly a foilist and had only really tried epee at the qualifying tournament, where he did well enough to qualify and earn a D in epee. I think my sister was rooting for him in the pool a little, maybe thinking it funny that there was a bear and a fly in the pool. He did okay, coming out 5th.
Next I had Addison Wessel, a leftie who did well, coming in first place in our pool. I was the only one who beat him, 5-3. It felt fairly straightforward, mostly about distance. Although at one point, when I was up a point or two, I remembered Charlie's leftie flick to the hand thing. The last time this tactic popped into my head and I tried it Jeff Johnson pegged me in the shoulder. I've since been practicing it a little more and getting a better feel for the right distance required (and I've also come to learn how and why it isn't the best thing to try with Jeff). Anyway, it popped into my head and I took a moment to set the distance right, then threw it out. It worked perfectly. A lovely flick right to his inside hand. That felt nice.
Then I had Albert Aboaf, who my sister had dubbed "bouncy", as he sometimes broke into really fast bouncing forward and back. My luring into distance ploy worked quite well with him, and I won 5-2. Albert ended up coming in 6th in our pool.
Last I had Jonas Kulberg-Savercool, who ended up coming in last in our pool. He had lost every bout. A couple were close, 5-4, but three were not—a couple 5-1 and a 5-2. So I am not sure why I lost to him, 5-3. I think I was feeling a little too cocky, and perhaps a little tired. I did some stupid things, and made some mistakes. Oops.
I was still quite happy coming out four and two, with a +4 indicator. My preliminary seeding was 112 out of 145. After the pools my seed was a tie for 46. In the end I finished 48th out of 145.
DIRECT ELIMINATION
My first DE was with David Mackenzie. The way the pod was being run we were told to sit "on deck" and wait for the next strip. It took a while and we sat right close next to each other, which felt a little odd. I felt like we ought to chat, but beyond basic pleasantries I wasn't sure what to say, and kind of wanted to stay focused on fencing. So I watched the DEs going on. I got to see most of Kyle Margolies' first DE, where he came back from being quite a bit behind to win. I think David and I took the strip Kyle had been on.
I stuck with my basic generally defensive plan of working distance, trying to get him to attack from too far, or to lure him too close. It worked quite well in the first period and I got a comfortable 6-2 lead. In the break Russ basically said to keep doing what I was doing. The second period went similarly, although he got a bit better. I was patient, having a nice lead, letting time run down. The period ended 13-7. This was a very comfortable place to be. In the third period I think I let my large lead turn into a bit more passivity than was wise, and he had definitely figured some things out. He caught up to perhaps 13-10, which began to worry me and maybe helped kick me into being more active. Luckily I had such a comfortable lead I was able to eventually finish it, 15-12.
My second DE was with Jack Umanos. Russ warned me beforehand that "the second DE is always the hardest". I'm still not sure this really makes sense. Maybe he was just trying to get me focused and primed to work hard. Jack and I started off somewhat even, but soon I fell behind, deeper and deeper. He was wily. I think my sister said "wiry". He was very good about slipping out of binds and making last moment disengages. He got several points up in the first period. In the breaks Russ suggested envelopments, saying I needed to take his blade around twice or he would just slip out. I managed a few points that way, but it was too little too late. By the third period I was way behind. My defensive strategy was not going to work. Jack was happy to fall into his own defensive tactics, waiting for me. I tried various things, looking for single lights, but they mostly failed. I lost 15-9. I felt like I might have been able to do a lot better if I could have fenced him again, having gotten a sense of his style. But it was too much to solve within 15 points.
But it was all good. As with vet40 I had made all my default goals: making the cut, winning my first DE, and ending up higher than my preliminary seed. This last wasn't too hard since my prelim seed was so low. And my finish result was a little lower than my post-pool seed (48 vs. 46). But all in all it was extremely fun.
I could go on and on about how much fun I had at Nationals in general, and maybe I'll add more to this later. I have some videos and photos to edit. But for now, gotta post.
PICS
Here's some pictures my sister took on her phone.
Ref checking gear, probably the first pool bout. Jeff Johnson fencing in the background:
Me and, I think that is Eugene Vinitsky, with the red socks:
Why am I attacking with a bent arm? Who knows. Maybe it's a feint? I'm not sure who I'm fencing here. Maybe Jonas, my last bout. I mostly fenced on the other end of the strip:
Just me:
The start of my first DE with David Mackenzie:
Another, up four points, nice:
This must be just before I won that first DE:
And apparently this is the winning touch. Looks a little awkward, but hey, nice timing, sis! I think I had attacked with a straighter arm, then let it fall so as not to skewer him as I came forward. That's my theory for the apparent weird form anyway:
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