I have never been so glad to get on a plane and come home. That venue, while beautiful, was not the kind of place I would ever want to stay for a week.
My odyssey started last Friday, July 3rd. I worked all day at the Statue of Liberty setting up for GMA, came home to finish packing and sleep for 3 hours, then headed back to the Statue for the show. Went over to my coach's apartment, crashed for a half hour or so then over to JFK. By the time I got into DFW and arrived at the Gaylord, I'd been up for 26 hours since my last 3 hours of sleep. I had nothing to do Sunday though, so I got a full night's sleep then watched the Wimbledon finals (epic!) and took a lesson.
That night we had planned to go out to a local bbq place, but plans got delayed and the decision was made to just get room service, since we were fencing early the next day (Div I). Ribs have always been my good luck food before tournaments, so that's what I ordered. The next morning, my stomach felt off. I figured it was just nerves. I went down to the venue, warmed up, and started a lesson. By now I really felt sick and had to keep stopping every few actions. My coach cut the lesson short and ran out to get me some pepto bismol. Unfortunately, I think that made it worse. I ran to the bathroom and threw up everything from the last day. By the time I made it back to the venue, pools were posted: Hull, Dan Bak, Ochocki, Siegel, Jakelsky, Douville and Josephs.
I struggled through the whole pool, unable to really think clearly. I went 2-4, beating Bak and Josephs. That meant I made the cut, but barely. I was fencing the 3rd seed, Ewan Douglas. Before the DE I had my coach pull a trash can over to the railing, just in case. I don't remember much about this bout, I was really sick. I didn't throw up fortunately, but I did lose 15-12. Once I was done I went straight back to my room where I stayed for the next 24 hours, feeling like death.
Over the next two days I made a speedy recovery, and by Wednesday afternoon's lesson I felt really good and ready for teams. For the first year ever, the NYAC sent two sabre teams. NYAC 1: Igoe, Spear, Etropolski, Roselli and NYAC 2: Hull, Wilson, Liu. We were supposed to have Andrew Fischl as well, but he sprained his ankle the last practice before nationals and couldn't make the trip.
We were seeded 6th out of 29 teams. Round of 32 we fenced Des Moines Fencing Club. This match started off badly. Kyle lost the opening bout 5-1, and I didn't do much better in the second bout, leaving it 10-4 after a couple of bad calls. Then Jerry brought it back in the third bout to give us the lead, and that sparked the whole team. We never looked back, and beat them 45-28 (I think).
Round of 16 we fenced Dallas Fencers Club. This time, we took the lead early and never gave it back. We won 45-31 (I think).
Top 8 we fenced Manhattan (Homer, Zich, W. Spear, Tom). We know it was stacked against us, so we just committed to fence hard and take risks. Interestingly enough, we each had one winning bout: Jerry beat Homer, Kyle beat Spear and I beat Zich. Of course, that's not enough to win the whole thing. I went to close vs. Homer down 40-28. I only managed 4 touches and we lost 45-32.
Overall, I was very happy with how we fenced. We won the matches we were supposed to, and put up a great fight against the winning team. At one point in my bout vs. Zich, we were only down by 2 touches. So I had no complaints. We all fenced well.
The day did end on a disappointing note though, when NYAC 1 lost in the finals 45-44. At 43-44, Ben pulled Homer short and attacked, but Gritsaev awarded Homer the attack anyway. At 44-44, Ben attacked in Homer's prep in the middle, but Gritsaev called simultaneous. Then, Ben chased Daryl down and hit him right across the chest, but Daryl's body cord fell out and there was no touch. Finally, Homer scored on a parry riposte to win 45-44. The feeling of losing wasn't nearly as bad as the feeling of getting completely hosed by bad calls.
Finally on Saturday, the last event rolled around: D1A. This was my event, my time to finally get that A. I was ready. I went 6-0 in my pool: Blakeborough, Rollock, Redhead, Aris, Tehrani, and Cohen. I was 1st seed for DE's. I had a bye into the 32, then I fenced Spencer Koo. His speed proved troublesome for me, and very quickly I was down 8-3 at the break. My coach wasn't around, but RITFencing gave me some good advice and almost immediately I got myself back into the bout. I just kept pulling him short and being very cautious on the attack, instead of trying to counterattack in the middle. I was up 14-12, then gave away two silly touches trying to counterattack. 14-14, I stepped back and took a parry 5 riposte to win it.
In the 16 I had Zack Brown, my old teammate from Rutgers. This was not a good matchup for me. Though my results are generally better than Zack's, he beats me probably 99% of the time head to head. As usual, his blade actions proved to be too much for me. I was down 8-5 at the break and then he scored again to make it 9-5. Then I started an unlikely comeback, to even it at 11. He went back to the actions he knew I couldn't defend- point flunges off the line, fast attacks to 5. I missed two parries because I couldn't get there in time. He won the bout 15-11 on a parry riposte in the middle.
9th isn't a bad finish, I know that, but I wanted more. I wanted the rematch with Ewan in the top 8, now that I wasn't sick anymore. I just wish I had drawn almost anyone else, rather than a teammate who I had trouble with and who knows all my actions and tendencies. Zack went on to lose to Ewan in the top 8, who went on to win the whole thing. Next year, I guess.
So now I'm home and I'm really glad to be done with fencing for the season. I'm going to Canada for a family vacation on Tuesday, and I don't want to even think about fencing for at least 2 or 3 weeks. I'm completely burned out from all the training and competing and just being at nationals for a week. Time for some time off.
07-12-2009 11:08 PM