Caitlin clinches top spot in epee rankings
SAINT Aidan's School student Caitlin Chang left it very late in the season to claim top spot in both the U-17s and U-20s British national epee rankings.
Trailing in third spot going into the last qualifying cadet (U-17s) event of the season held in Gothenburg, Sweden, Caitlin fought her way through a field of 144 to reach the semi-final eventually losing to Pauline Brunner of Switzerland to take bronze.
Not content to rest on her laurels Caitlin competed the next day in the Vigor Challenge U-20s World Cup, also in Gothenburg, where she finished a credible 19th out of an international field of 152 to move up the British U-20s ranking from fourth to third.
Feeling confident, Caitlin, who fences at Harrogate Fencing Club, travelled at the weekend to Vienna, Austria, to compete in the Wappen Von Mdling U-20s World Cup.
There the 16-year-old A level student scrapped and battled her way to 10th place which also propelled her to the top of the British U-20s ranking.
Caitlin said: “I’m so happy that all my hard work training, travelling, competing and sacrificing things other girls my age enjoy has been rewarded.
“I am so grateful that St Aidan’s supports me with time off to compete at internationals and for the support my teachers give me to help me catch up, plus of course my friends who let me copy their class notes. But my biggest thanks go to my family for supporting me and to my coach Brian Matless who has coached me for the past eight years”.
Next for Caitlin, whose current U-20s world ranking is 23rd and whose ambitions include London 2012 and Rio 2016, will be next month’s U-17s European Championships in Athens, followed by April’s U-17s and U-20s World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Anyone interested in taking up fencing should contact Brian Matless on 01423-880532 or visit Harrogate Fencing Club’s website at www.harrogatefencingclub.org.uk
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Weather for Harrogate
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -7 C to 0 C
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Wind direction: South
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Light sleet showers
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