“The Sword Fighter Dozen”

Australian 2012 National Champion:  Sam Auty – Womens Sabre.

 
1: How long have you been Fencing? What made you start? How long did it take for you to feel competent? 

A: I have been fencing for 11 years. I started at my primary school where there were fencing classes. Rumour is I started because I had really bad hand-eye coordination. I still feel that I am not competent in some ways, but I guess about 2 years ago I really started to feel like I could actually fence well. 


2: How long have you been Competing at National / International level? 

A: I have been competing at a National level since 2005 when I did my first Cadet National competition. My first International competition was Commonwealth Junior Championships in 2009. 


3: What made you choose your weapon?, have you fenced the other 2? 

A: I fenced foil for three years when I first started fencing. I picked up a sabre to try at a fencing demonstration with my fencing club and never looked back. 


4: Where is your favourite place to fence or to train? 

A: At VRI Fencing Club in Punt Rd Richmond. It is an amazing facility and one which we are extremely lucky to have. 


5: How important have a coach and training partner’s been to you? 

A: Training partners can be hard to find so having any training partner of any level is extremely valuable to me. Also a good fencer has no direction without a good coach so my coaches (personal, state, and national) are also very important to me. 


6: What are your future ambitions for 2013 and beyond? Work / training / competition? 

A: I aim to finish my degree in Law/ Science, do a series of world cups and training tours overseas. 


7: Who if anyone have you modelled your fencing on? Or do you have a favourite Fencer (Internationally)? 

A: My favourite fencer is probably Olga Kharlan for her aggressive and brave style of fencing, however I wouldn’t say I have modelled my fencing on hers. I generally prefer any fencer internationally who shows serious mental determination and toughness in competition ie Valentina Vezzali. 


8: What if any other sports do you play/train? 

A: I played a lot of other sports in high school (skiing, rowing, cross country, swimming), but I now focus specifically on fencing. 


9: What difference if any did this national event have to others? 

A: This was the first National Championships held at the AIS. It is such a fantastic venue that I think should really be utilised in the future. 


10: What is your weekly training Regime? 
 
A: 5 fitness sessions and 5 fencing sessions per week. Fitness sessions incorporate 3 recovery sessions weekly and generally go for an hour to 2 hours. My fencing sessions incorporate all my technical footwork and drills sessions as well as structured and competitive bouting, these go for 2 to 3 and ½ hours. 


11:  What advice would you give future Australian champions? 

A: Put in the hard work. Every footwork sessions, every weights sessions, every hard bouting session where you feel like you will crack pays off. It pays off on the strip, when you opponent is the one that cracks in the final and not you. 


12: What is the best and worst thing about fencing in Australia? 

A: The best thing is getting the opportunity to compete in a lot of competitions internationally. The worst thing is finding harder partners to train against and having a small field in competition.

Thanks Sam, good luck for 2013 and beyond.