REPORTS FROM AUSTRALIA

filed by Paul ApSimon, Team Manager for the Canadian Olympic Fencing Team

September 23 - Photos - Page 1 | Page 2
 
Here is the latest news from Sydney. Although the fencing is now over I might send a couple more series of photos just for the fun of it.

September 21 - Photos - Page 1 | Page 2
 
G'day mates,
 
Today was women's foil day of the tournament. Jujie and Julie had their work cut out for them but both thought that if they fenced well they could advance. Jujie had a bout in the 64 while Julie had a bye to the round of 32 because of her world cup ranking. Both women were well prepared. Julie fenced very well after starting 3-0 down due to inexperience or nerves. After the 3-0 start Julie and Szabo exchanged hits until Szabo eventually won 15-10. Jujie's bout started strong. Jujie was leading after the 1st period 6-5 but lost confidence or tightened up and started missing the target in the second period. Jujie lost 15-8. 

The individual portion of the tournament is over, Canada's last event is the women's foil team event on Saturday. Canada has a team entered but will have a tough seeding as Sherraine Schalm is the third member of the team. The team seeding is based on the individual event. Sherraine is an Epee fencer and did not compete in foil, she will record the maximum possible points thus giving us the lowest possible seeding. No worries though, Sherraine started fencing foil on Tuesday - with 2 more lessons she should be right up there with the other foilists :). It is still an achievement to have a team qualified when you consider that last years world champions (Romania) did not qualify by team.

September 18

Here are the most recent photos.  Everything is going OK here.  Laurie and Sherraine were quite upset but realize that this tournament was more like the final of an 18 month tournament.  Sherraine will start training foil tomorrow and will have 3 days to learn the weapon :).  Canada is not the only team to have athletes crossing over.  No matter the weapon Sherraine now realizes the importance of Olympic experience and is looking at this challenge in a very positive manner.  Any added Olympic experience is going to help Sherraine and Canadian Fencing down the road.

Jujie and Julie are still training and will compete in a couple of days.  Julie has a bye in the 64 and then fences Webber from Germany.  Jujie fences Ko from Korea in the 64.

September 15 - Opening Ceremonies:

Here are some photos from the opening ceremonies. The pictures start with all the athletes and coaches in the superdome waiting to be called into the stadium. Once we were called in the stadium there are some other shots from the field that show the flame, fireworks and the crowd (110 000). Although we didn't see much it was a great experience. I will include more details later but it is 2 AM and our first competitor Laurie Shong competes tomorrow and we leave at 5:30, I am going to bed.  :)  Photos

September 12 - Olympic photos:
 
Here is another series of photos put together by Sherraine and Julie. Enjoy, all is going well, the training site is beautiful. We are just waiting for the events to begin, stay tuned for photos from the opening ceremonies.  Photos - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
 
September 11 - Fencers move into the village:
 
After 7 days of good training in Melbourne we took a day off yesterday (see photos) and flew to Sydney this morning. All is going well, Julie pulled a neck muscle last week but got treatment from the US fencing team physio therapist for a few days, she is not feeling anymore pain. Sherraine and Laurie have been training hard and are doing well. Manu was delighted with the training camp as it offered high level training with very few distractions. Laurie has been training in Sydney and reports that the venue is great, we'll be there tomorrow. Jujie gets into Sydney early Thursday, straight from Beijing.   Photos
 
September 5 - Hello from Melbourne:
 
We arrived in Melbourne last Sunday without our luggage, the four of us, Sherraine, Julie, Manu and myself took three different itineraries but arrived within 30 minutes of each other (Thank you Yann for the E-mail about Julie's canceled flight we received from the pilot just before arriving in LA). 
 
The training centre in Melbourne is in a warehouse and the temperature is about 13-15 Celsius. There are 7/8 countries participating and Julie and Sherraine are happy with the training site. Laurie and Jerzy are scheduled to arrive in Sydney today and Jujie will be coming next Tuesday. We are staying in Melbourne until the 11 when we'll do the 1 hour flight to Sydney to move into the village.  Photos