The final GBR Pathway Camp of 2025 brought together athletes from across the country for two days of intensive training, reflection, and team development. Split across two venues – Nottingham Jubilee Campus for foil and epee, and Cardiff Academy of Fencing for sabre and wheelchair fencing – the camp provided a dynamic environment to sharpen skills and strengthen squad culture.
Foil:
Foilists focused on competition preparation and tactical clarity, with structured poule and DE simulations designed to challenge adaptability and consistency under pressure. Group discussions explored pre-competition routines, mental readiness, and strategies for maintaining composure throughout events.
Venue: Nottingham Jubilee Campus
Coaching Team: Dan Robinson, Marco Zaffino, and Don McKenzie
Epee:
Epee sessions centred on team competition readiness, combining trust-building activities, tactical drills, and scenario fencing. Saturday featured S&C and communication exercises, while Sunday introduced a nutrition workshop and technical refinement on lunge mechanics and punishing errors. The camp concluded with competitive team scenarios to put learning into practice.
Venue: Nottingham Jubilee Campus
Coaching Team: Alex Agrenich, Paul Beasley, Taran James, Lewis McInley and supported by James Gowen
Sabre:
Sabreurs worked on controlling the controllables, with competitive poule fights, tactical scenarios, and a nutrition workshop on Saturday. Sunday shifted to team-building activities, collaborative sparring, and plyometric-based S&C learning, reinforcing squad cohesion and adaptability.
U14 sabre fencers were invited to the camp for the Sunday, for their first experience of pathway camp, focusing on the team based activities.
Venue: Cardiff Academy of Fencing
Coaching Team: Fran Whalley, Phil Shepherd-Foster and Stuart Marshall
Wheelchair Fencing:
The wheelchair fencing camp provided a reset for returning athletes and an introduction for new participants. Goal-setting, individual reflection, and practical planning complemented technical and tactical work, alongside a nutrition workshop and classification discussions.
Venue: Cardiff Academy of Fencing
Coaching Team: Nat Lewis and Ben Peggs
Key themes across all weapons:
This camp saw Rob Partridge join the team to provide guidance on nutrition, helping fencers make informed choices to fuel their performance. Rob also led an engaging parent session on Sunday, offering valuable insights into supporting athletes at home.
Meanwhile, at the Nottingham camp, Matilda from The True Athlete Project was in attendance, delivering wellbeing support to foilists and epeeists.
The True Athlete Project continues to play a central role in shaping the Talent Pathway experience. Feedback from ADP and GBR athletes over the past five years has been overwhelmingly positive, around 80%, highlighting the value of 1:1 support, structured routines, psychology and mindset work, and interactive sessions. TAP’s focus on creating healthier, happier humans through a holistic approach, with mental health at its core, aligns perfectly with our Board Strategy of ensuring every talented athlete has the tools, coaching, and support to maximise their potential.
Looking ahead, TAP will remain embedded in camps and development initiatives, delivering wellbeing workshops, mindfulness practices, and compassionate communication training. These elements complement technical and tactical work, reinforcing resilience, athlete identity, and values. By integrating mental health, mentoring, and performance foundations such as S&C and nutrition, the pathway continues to evolve into a system that prioritises both excellence and wellbeing.
This was our final pathway camp of 2025 and was a strong finish to the year, for 2026 GBR Pathway Camps and development opportunities keep an eye on the BF GBR Pathway Programme Zone.
Next Camp:
Date: 8th – 9th April 2026.
Locations: Nottingham Jubilee
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