Enlarge Image

Adrian Symons is hoping for some big results in national and international competition this year after training with world-renowned Italian coach Giulio Tomassini. (AVI SAPER)

Local fencers may start parrying with some Italian flair after a world-renowned coach paid Winnipeg a visit last week.

Giulio Tomassini, the head coach of the Italian national team, ran a week-long clinic at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre, providing coaches and athletes with a (pardon the pun) cutting-edge look at how the world’s top fencing powers are training.

Of the nine coaches taking part in the clinic, only two were from Manitoba, while six came from across Canada and one came from the U.S.

Tomassini, an expert in the foil discipline whose athletes have won 14 Olympic medals, said Canadian fencers are at a major disadvantage simply because they don’t have the resources to travel constantly to Europe, where almost all the top competitions take place.

"They don’t see what’s happening," Tomassini said through a translator. "It’s hard to adapt to what’s happening in fencing when there’s not enough opportunity to see what’s going on in the World Cups."

A clinic like the one held last week is one of the things the Canadian Fencing Federation is trying to do to bridge that gap. There are also plans to send a coach to "scout out" major competitions and report back to others on what’s new in the ever-changing sport.

"Fencing evolves every year, and you have to be there," Tomassini said. "The Canadian Federation has to put more money into the coaching side."

Provincial coach Ayach Bounachada, who called Tomassini "one of the best foil coaches ever," said the Italian helped him find solutions to some of the problems he has been dealing with here at home.

"He showed us how he sees teaching and training," Bounachada said. "How he works one-to-one and with a group. The Italian technique is completely different from other schools."

Steve Symons, a St. Boniface resident who is president of the CFF and head coach of the Phoenix Fencing Club, was one of Tomassini’s pupils for the week.

Symons said he’d long wondered why Italian fencers do things a certain way, and was pleased to finally have some answers.

"To actually have a true insight into the Italian methodology as opposed to just watching and not understanding it fully…this plugged that gap," he said.

All coaches would benefit, Symons said, from taking some of the Italian’s techniques and incorporating them into their own teaching.

He added that the biggest benefits might be seen by young fencers who won’t have to undo bad habits that have already been ingrained.

Symons’ 19-year-old son, Adrian, was in Italy from November until January training daily with Tomassini, and has seen a huge difference in his own skill level.

"Everything has changed," he said. "I’ve started to feel very fluid, like I’m gaining momentum rather than being tired. Especially the way I view the sport has changed."

Adrian Symons is hoping his newfound sense of confidence will carry him to a top-16 finish at this year’s world junior championship.

And what if, say in 2016, a Canadian fencer takes an Olympic medal away from an Italian thanks in part to Tomassini’s influence?

"I’ll just say that’s too bad," said the Italian coach with a smile. "This just means the Canadian did the work."

avi.saper@canstarnews.com