Olympic Test Event - Fencing

Yesterday, I went to the ExCel Centre for the very first time to support our GB Men’s foilists compete in our Olympic Test Event at the Olympic Fencing venue. Not only did it allow for the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to test crucial aspects of it’s operations in preparation for next year’s Games but it also allowed the boys to get a feel of the venue and what it might be like to compete in front of a home crowd come August 2012.

The boys certainly stepped up to the plate with Team A winning Gold and Team B finishing 4th after an impressive day of fencing. Both British teams were clearly up for it, and fencing with guts, determination and every bit of passion that you’d expect to see at an Olympic Test Event. I felt so proud of them because I know how hard they have been training – we all have – and it’s about time they got the result they deserved. It’s a confidence boost and shows how strong we can really be. No question, fencing in front of a home crowd will spur and push our British Team to greater heights. As Richard Kruse said upon winning gold yesterday, crowd support will give us the ‘psychological edge.’ The boys know that they can do it now. They have felt what it could be like at the actual Games and now they can believe it. What a great dress-rehearsal for them.

Women’s Foil were also given a chance to visualise what it could be like in London 2012 with a backstage tour of the ExCel Fencing venue. It was nice to see Sir Clive Woodward around the venue too, the overall Performance Director for Team GB. It was interesting to hear about the logistics of the running of the fencing at the Olympic Games. We were shown where weapon check would take place, where the warm-up halls would be, we were led into the call room and then finally out into the main arena and onto the piste. While the Test Event offered just 500 spectator seats, at the Games 8,000 spectators will be watching each session.

I was chatting to our new Strength and Conditioning Coach, Rhys Ingram, about this last week and he said that there would be two crucial, land-mark events where the realisation of a home Olympic Games would really hit us. One being the Olympic Test Event and the other being NYE when 2011 turns into 2012 and we start writing 2012 in every date and finally get to speak about the Olympic Games in the present tense. He was absolutely right.

I can only speak for myself, but walking out from the call room and into the fencing hall made everything feel so real. I started imagining the crowds, the excitement, the competition and the honour of representing your country. This is what all these years of hard-work and dedication is all about.

I find it very difficult to describe the emotions that were flying around yesterday afternoon. It was an important event for all of our Olympic hopefuls and it made me feel very lucky that I am in a position to try to qualify for the Olympic Games in London. I want to make the most of the opportunity and make sure that nothing gets left in the tank.

These little reminders and reality-checks is what I believe, gives Team GB, the upper-hand in the lead up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Team 2012 Appearance

On Wednesday, my team-mate Sophie Troiano and I did an appearance at Lord’s Cricket Ground for Team 2012 presented by Visa. Team 2012 is the official support programme for British athletes. It aims to raise up to £25 million to support the coaching and training of the group of 1,200 athletes who will make up Team GB and Paralympics GB in London 2012.

Sophie and I kicked off a seminar for Team 2012 with a fencing demonstration in the pavilion at Lord’s. We then got up on stage for a quick interview about our training, our life as athletes and our ambitions for 2012.

We had a great morning at Lord’s and want to thank Team 2012 for all their support! We even managed to bump into the official team GB mascots Wenlock and Mandeville who were on great form! Check out the photographs of our encounter above.

Nintendo Launch Party: The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

Back in September I agreed to do a fencing demonstration and run a ‘Go Fence’ session at the launch of the new highly anticipated Zelda sequel for the Nintendo wii. I’m glad I did.

Last Thursday I entered the gaming world for the very first time, or should I say Zelda’s Universe? Either way, I was impressed and completely taken in by the whole experience.

The event was held in South Kensington in a recently renovated Victorian building. It looked magical and every bit the enchanted world. The stairwell leading up to the launch was covered in foliage and fairy lights while green lighting set a mystical tone for the evening.

Liz Ng and I set up the new white ‘smart’ piste that Leon Paul had kindly lent us for the event which looked brilliant, and very, well... smart. We fenced in front of a hand-full of gaming journalists and took to the floor to teach some of them the basics of fencing with ‘Go Fence’ equipment. I think they really enjoyed it and one chap even tweeted afterwards to say: “Huge, huge thanks for showing me how to fence with a foil and live every worker’s dream by fighting my boss to the death.” Not literally obviously, but needless to say, fencing with ‘Go Fence’ at events like these is a fantastic way of bringing a group together and having fun at the same time. It went down a storm.

After our demonstration and a promotional photo-shoot for Nintendo we were allowed to take to one of the wii gaming pods set up especially for the event. I was honoured to be handed a limited edition gold wii-mote to play Skyward Sword but, sadly, my attempt was less than gold.

I was frantically swinging my wii-mote around in a vain attempt to fence my way to victory. Not my finest hour. Smaller, more contained wrist actions would have probably sufficed.

Despite my frenzied attempt, I really enjoyed playing Skyward Sword and the sword fighting scenes were impressively realistic. The wii-mote was very responsive and I really felt involved in the action. It was fun!

Thank-you Nintendo for inviting us to help launch ‘The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.’ It was a wonderful introduction to the gaming world and a special evening for everyone involved. A big thank-you goes to Leon Paul for supplying the equipment and helping the evening come to life.

I will post some official photographs of the event soon so watch this space.

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword is available to buy on 18th November 2011.

Metro Images - check out a photograph from last night's launch of the new Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword Nintendo game

News photos Claire Bennett (left) and Liz Ng of the Senior British Fencing team spar against each other at the launch of the new Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword video game for the Nintendo Wii in London.