Charleswood athlete is top fencer
No rest for athlete, off to two tournaments later this month
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This article was published 25/09/2014 (4084 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Have sword, will fence.
Daria Jorquera Palmer, a 26-year-old Charleswood resident and fencer, is the No. 1 in senior women’s épée in Canada for the 2013-14 season. On top of holding that respectable title, Jorquera Palmer also made her country proud by winning bronze in both the individual and team categories in fencing at the first Pan American Sport Festival in Mexico City, Mexico last month.
Jorquera Palmer represented Canada with four other national team members during the weeklong tournament, according to a release issued by the Manitoba Fencing Association. The release also stated 179 fencers attended from a total of 20 Pan Am countries.
“I felt happy. It’s a good start to the season,” Jorquera Palmer said, adding that training starts in August and the season continues until July.
The athlete, who also just graduated from the University of Manitoba with a recreation management and community development degree, has been fencing since she was 11 years old. After dressing up as Zorro and Robin Hood for Halloween many times, Jorquera Palmer decided to stop pretending to be fictional characters and to pursue a sport she was interested in.
“It’s (such) a different sport. It’s an individual sport trained in a group atmosphere,” Jorquera Palmer said.
There are three different swords used in fencing — épée, foil, and sabre — and Jorquera
Palmer is an épée fencer, which means the fencer can only hit with the point of the sword, though blows can be landed anywhere on the body.
Jorquera Palmer started with a foil, but saw a coach teach someone with an épée sword and she immediately made the switch.
Jorquera Palmer can’t bask in the high of being named No. 1 fencer in Canada for too long as she has more tournaments to practise for. She is headed to Portland, Ore. for the 2014 October North American Cup from Oct. 10 to 13. After that, she is going to Italy for the Legnano World Cup, which takes place from Oct. 24 to 26.
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