Benjamin Hart is part of winning England team at Student 4 Nations Fencing

Green Templeton College student Benjamin Hart was part of the winning England team at this year’s Student 4 Nations Fencing competition.

Ben (MSc Education) and his teammates travelled to Cork for the tournament on Saturday 13 July, where they won both the overall competition and Ben’s individual category, Sabre.

The Student 4 Nations is an annual competition between university students representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, taking place in a different host city each year. It was Ben’s first time at the competition after being forced to pull out last year because of a knee injury.

“There are three different weapons in fencing,” Ben explained. “In Sabre, you can hit with any part of the blade on the torso and above, which includes the head and arms but not the hands. In Epee, you can only hit with the point but can target your opponent anywhere on the body. In Foil, you hit with the point but only on the torso.

“What I do, Sabre, is the only slashing weapon where you can hit the entire body above the waist which means it’s kind of the fastest one, but also the worst for your joints which I think is why I got injured.”

“There were three of us on the Sabre team and it’s the first to 45,” said Ben. “Each fencer from each nation fences the others and it’s like a relay to 45 points. There are nine different games across the three categories of fencing and at the end of the day, the whole scores are added up from both men’s and women’s teams to get a final result.”

As well as England triumphing in the overall competition, Ben’s team won the overall Sabre category – although he admits there were “tense moments”.

“The match against Scotland was a very tight one. We won 45-44 but were losing 35-40 before Eros came back and got 10-4 in the last leg, which won it. That was a really tense moment!”

Ben took up fencing during his undergraduate degree at the University of Leicester, after being inspired while watching fencing at the Olympics.

“I saw it at the Olympics and really wanted to give it a go so I found a team at my old university, got involved straight away, and absolutely loved it! There are lots of people who start fencing later in life, rather than beginning when they’re young. It has a reputation for being an elitist sport but that isn’t the case. Nearly every club has equipment you can borrow and I think it’s actually quite inclusive once you get into it.

“University is the perfect place to start fencing and there are local clubs after you’ve left university, as each region has their own governing body-type committee. There are regional and national competitions where you get ranking points, although these can be expensive to enter when you add up travel and accommodation costs.”

Although Ben competed for England at the Student 4 Nations, he didn’t actually fence for the University of Oxford this year because of his injury, choosing instead to play hockey.

“The movement of fencing meant I couldn’t carry it on while my knee was still injured, but I could do hockey because there was less impact on my knee. Hockey was kind of my rehabilitation exercise, I guess!”

Ben’s now in the process of completing his MA Education and looking for a job, but is hoping to apply for a DPhil in the department in a year or so.

“I’d come back to Green Templeton if I could,” he said. “I’d like to! The MA is only for a year so sadly it’s been a very brief time!”