Plymouth College hosts fencing battle – Fell V Sparks! - 14/6/10

Published: 14 June, 2010

It is unclear who challenged who, but when Radio Devon presenter, Gordon Sparks, found himself agreeing to a fencing duel with Olympic silver medallist, Heather Fell, he thought it best to get some expert training as soon as possible. Having never fenced before, who better to come to his aid than Plymouth College Director of Modern Pentathlon and Plymouth Fencing Head Coach, Andy Hill. 

After a talk on safety and fencing etiquette, Gordon donned the protective clothing and got to grips (literally) with the epee.  Over the next hour Andy showed Gordon basic footwork and stance, and got him practicing lunges, before declaring him 'as ready as he would ever be' to fence an Olympian.

The showdown between Gordon and Heather took place in Plymouth College's Old Gym. Despite the inevitable comfortable win by Heather, Gordon did manage to score 3 individual points in the race to 15.

"Gordon did really well", said Andy.  "At times he executed some promising moves and the 3 points were scored on his own merit.  With another 20 years of training he might just make it to the Olympic team!".