Fencing
THE MEN'S BLUES fencing team are looking forward to an exciting new season under the leadership of their newly capped captain, Tom Shaw.
Despite a disappointing season last year, with the men's' Blues succumbing to Cambridge in the Varsity Match and underachieving in BUSA (finishing third after a disappointing semi final loss against a vastly weaker Durham team) the team are confident of a good season this year.
POWERFUL
Changes in the structure of BUSA, despite the loss of such Blues stalwarts as Alastair Gerrard and Paul O'Dwyer, should enable the Blues to put its most potent team into this competition, whilst the addition of some powerful new freshers and the return of some old hands will certainly bulk out the team.
With support in the epee from OU's Modern Pentathletes, Tom Shaw will be able to draw on an excellent pool of fencers for his epee team, whilst the strength of the sabre team is, as ever, unchallenged with Tom Bird, Chris Cook and Paul Lowrie swinging the swords.
WEAKNESS
Foil, Oxford's weakness of recent years, will be able to draw upon the considerable talents of Ed Rugman, Nick Moodie and Douglas Gordon, whilst a new contingent of freshers looks to be promising to threaten for Blues team places.
With the only real challenge to Oxford coming from Cambridge itself (with Nottingham and Durham threatening upsets), the team will be hoping to scoop both the Varsity Match and the national title from their East Anglian rivals.
UNBEATABLE
The Women's Blues are as solid as ever. With Libby Payne, Elspeth Wylie and Emily Hepburn leading the team with considerable experience and power and for the first time, needing to compete with some of the freshers for Blues places, the women look to be unbeatably strong.
Although the loss of certain team members last year (notably Alex Shimo Barry and Tamsyn Tremeer) will thin out the cast of world championship contenders in the team, the women are nonetheless still an extremely powerful team, and it is hard to see them not winning BUSA.
CUPPERS
Cuppers in sixth week will be the parade ground for new fencers, as Trinity look to retain the title that Ed Rugman, Rob Collins and Chris Cook won from Balliol last year, crushing Tom Shaw's Queens in the process.
The most exciting aspect of this new season, however, is the use of the Oxford Union Chamber as the venue for the Varsity Match.
Whereas previous events have been forced to turn viewers away due to the restrictions of the venues, this year, the event on Sunday of sixth week of Hilary Term should finally get the kind of venue it deserves.
If you are a fencer wishing to enter cuppers (the inter college fencing competition) this year, please email fencing@herald.ox.ac.uk for your registration form.
18th Oct 2001