Douglas gets to the point

Fencing sensation Rebecca Douglas is preparing to test herself against the best in Europe after being selected to represent her country in all three disciplines.

The 14-year-old Newlands School pupil was picked as part of England Fencing’s Tomorrow’s Achievers team and will attend two international competitions in France and Poland.

On top of that she has once again been selected for the Great Britain sabre squad which flies out to compete in Monteneau later this month.

Her selections mean Douglas will fence foil in Paris, epée in Poland and sabre in Monteneau over the coming months.
Douglas is certainly the first junior to collect international honours at all three weapons, but her mother, Jennifer, a former coach with the Hungarian Olympic Fencing Squad, believes she could also be first person of any age to complete the trinity.

She said: “This is on a whole new level for Rebecca. As far as we are aware no one has done this before - not even an adult.

“The three weapons require very different techniques and present very different challenges for her.”

The Maidenhead schoolgirl, who began fencing when she was seven, will have to make a decision on which weapon to specialise in if she is to reach Olympic standard.

Her mother added: “I think she has made that decision already and that is to concentrate on the foil.
“She has been putting in a lot of work on the foil and I think she will eventually specialise in that.”