The first two GBR Performance Camps took place in December, with foil at Salle Holyrood and sabre at Leon Paul.
Performance Camps are a new and exciting opportunity in the GBR Pathway Programme, where top-ranked fencers – including seniors as well as selected juniors and cadets – come together. The camps are weapon-specific and delivered in collaboration with coaches, athletes and clubs. They are designed to enhance the GBR Pathway, providing high-value training environments that support athlete development and team cohesion.
December saw the first foil performance camp hosted at the fantastic new venue, Salle Holyrood. This milestone came hot on the heels of exciting news about UK Sport APA funding for Scottish fencer Jaimie Cook, reinforcing the momentum in British foil.
Keith Cook shared:
“It was fantastic to host the GBR Performance Camp at Salle Holyrood. The camp marked an important new chapter for the club, with our own dedicated performance facilities now based in the heart of Edinburgh. Having all the elite athletes together in Edinburgh for our first joint training camp was a significant milestone. The environment felt positive, creative, and truly athlete-focused, giving everyone the opportunity to engage fully and make the experience purposeful.”
Zoe Wagstaff, GBR and Salle Holyrood foilist said:
“I absolutely loved the camp, it was great to have such a high quality camp with the best fencers in men’s and women’s foil up here in Edinburgh. It was a great opportunity to practice new things and scenarios.”
Meanwhile, the sabre camp took place at Leon Paul, with a strong focus on teams and building a GBR sabre team identity.
Jon Salfield commented:
“It was a real pleasure and privilege for me to lead the coaching team at the first GBR Performance Camp for sabre. Not only were we able to bring together nearly all of the strongest GBR fencers across senior, junior and cadet age groups, but we also had the opportunity to invite some world-class overseas sparring partners. This added an extra layer of competitiveness and variety to the sessions, and gave the coaching team the opportunity to create some really strong team contests for the GBR fencers.
“The intensity level, focus and buy-in across the three-day camp was really impressive, and I hope we are able to make the Performance Camps a regular and keenly anticipated part of our national calendar.”
We are looking forward to expanding these camps to include epee. If you have a venue and want to be part of this exciting journey, please get in touch via [email protected].
Click here to learn more about the GBR Pathway Performance Camps.
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