An Opportunity Seized

The Rotary Club of Billericay supported Sebastian Pallier’s fencing in 2015 as part of our support for good causes in the community. 

February Update:

Some more information on Sebastian Pallier’s progress in fencing.

Since Christmas, Sebastian has been training 2 – 3 nights a week at Fencers Club London.  He’s also been invited to train with the GB senior squad at Hendon whenever they’re there, something he’s been doing on a regular basis.

Recently, Seb took part in the U17 and U20 British National Championships, over the weekend of the 5th/6th February.  He came away with a silver in the U17 on the Saturday, and then followed it up with another silver in the U20 tournament the next day.  As you’d expect, he was disappointed about not winning both, but he fenced very well and has learned some lessons to take forward.

We have had confirmation that he has been selected for both the European and World Cadet (U17) championships. The first is as part of a four man team travelling to Novi Sad in Serbia, over the week of the 29th of February – where he’ll go into the tournament as the British #1.The World’s this year is in Bourges, France, at the beginning of April. As well as the GB squad coaches, they’ll be sending out coaches from his club, to  maximise his chances of success!

These Sebastian’s major successes in 2015:
 
Gold - British Youth Championship (U16)
Bronze - British Junior (U20) Championship
6th. - Commonwealth U20 Fencing Championships (Individual)
Gold - Commonwealth U20 Fencing Championships (Team)
6th. - British School Games (U19) (Individual)
Gold - British School Games (U19) (Team
Gold - Manchester International Cadet (U17)
Gold - British Selection Cadet (U17)
 
Ranking (at U17)  GBR #1,  European #7, World #12
 
Future Goals:
Winning the Manchester tournament means he’s eligible to be selected for the Great Britain Cadet teams to fence in the European (Serbia) and World (France) championships in 2016.  He has already received notification of his selection for the European Championships, which takes place at the end of February.  The goal now is to push on from here and look to continually improve.  He’s training up to three nights a week, school work permitting, with current British and Polish internationals at a new club (Fencers Club London), which was formed to generate fencers who can win at the top level.  He has also been invited to train with the British Olympic Foil squad, which is a great honour. 
 
For more information, see the report on British Fencing website – Manchester International Cadet:
http://britishfencing.com/news/latest-news/?n=1427