Tia is double British fencing champion

Published: 05 May, 2011

Plymouth College fencer, Tia Simms Lymn, 11, has won both the U12 girls' epeé and U12 girls' foil in the British Age Group Fencing Championships.  Event organizers believe this is the first time a competitor in any age category has ever claimed both championship titles in the same year.

Competing against the top fencers from across the UK, Tia won all twenty fights at the two-day event held in Sheffield.  She qualified for the national championships, along with ten other Plymouth College fencers, after taking the South West title in March.  Prep pupils Alice Simmonds and Catherine Bishop came 6th and 7th in the same age category in the epeé competition.

In other age groups, Tim Andrews took 3rd place in the U14 boys' epeé while Megan Woodrow came 8th in the U18 girls' epeé, eliminating a GB international fencer in the last 16.

Plymouth College director of modern pentathlon and fencing, Andy Hill, said: "Winning both titles is an outstanding achievement and I am really proud of Tia.  She trains hard and I am delighted that it has paid off for her in this way."