Competition Notes: Four Events and a Lot to Learn

This Summer Nationals, I competed in four events: Cadet, Y14, Division II and Division III.

I came home with a bronze medal in D3.

If you only looked at the medal, you might think D3 was the most important part of my tournament.

I don't think it was.

Actually, the three events where I didn't medal probably gave me more to think about.

Starting With Cadets

Cadets was my first event and only my fourth Cadet competition ever.

Cadet fencing is still pretty new to me, so I went into this event without huge expectations.

I did a decent job.

I didn't get a medal, but I also didn't leave feeling like I had completely wasted an opportunity. Right now, Cadets is about figuring out where I stand and what I need to do to compete at that level. I think of it as a trial run for where I want to be in the future.

D2: When I Just Wasn't There

My second event was Division II.

This one was probably the most frustrating.

My coach thought I had a real chance to medal, but I didn't fence anywhere close to what I was capable of.

Physically, I was there.

Mentally, I wasn't.

I don't know exactly why. Maybe I was tired after the Cadet event. Maybe I wasn't focused enough going into the day. Or maybe it was simply one of those competitions where nothing felt right.

Whatever the reason, I knew afterward that the result wasn't really about the level of my fencing. I just hadn't shown up mentally the way I needed to.

The problem was that I still had two more events to fence.

Y14: Did I Really Reset?

Y14 came next.

This was my own age group, and my coach thought I could medal here too.

I didn't.

Looking back, I wonder about two things.

The first is overconfidence.

I've had this problem before. Sometimes knowing that you should be able to beat someone makes it harder when the bout doesn't start going the way you expected.

The second question is whether I had really moved on from D2.

Fencers always talk about forgetting the last bout and starting over.

But how easy is that when the disappointing result happened the day before?

I thought I had reset.

Maybe I hadn't completely.

That made me start wondering how much one competition result can affect the next one—especially during a long tournament where you fence multiple events over several days.

And Then I Got a Medal

My final event was D3, and I finished third.

Of course, getting a medal at Summer Nationals feels good. But I also have to put the result in perspective.

Division II and Division III are classification-restricted events. I had registered for them before earning my B rating, and because my registration was already completed, I was still allowed to compete.

By the time Summer Nationals arrived, though, my new rating meant I had technically moved beyond the normal classification level for these events.

So I'm proud that I competed and made the podium, but I'm not going to pretend that the D3 bronze was the result I came to Summer Nationals hoping for.

In a strange way, the medal and the disappointing results belong together.

One shows what I was able to do.

The others show what I still haven't figured out.

What Actually Went Wrong?

After four events, I started thinking about something bigger.

I was the same fencer throughout the tournament.

Same training.

Same coach.

Same equipment.

Same trip.

But I produced four very different results.

Why?

Was it the strength of the competition?

My seeding?

My pool performance?

The opponents I happened to draw?

Overconfidence?

Fatigue?

Or did the result of one event affect how I fenced the next day?

I don't know the answer yet.

Looking Back With Data

This year, I've started working on a fencing data project, and Summer Nationals gave me another idea for something I want to explore.

Usually, after a competition, we say things like:

"I wasn't focused."

"I had a bad day."

"I got a difficult draw."

"I should have beaten that fencer."

But can the numbers tell us anything different?

I can go back and compare my four events. I can look at my pre-tournament seeding, pool results, indicators, post-pool seeding, DE opponents and final placement.

Eventually, I'd also like to understand whether things that aren't normally included in fencing results—like sleep, recovery, travel and competing on multiple days—help explain performance.

Maybe the data will confirm what I felt during the tournament.

Maybe it won't.

That's part of what I want to find out.

My Real Result From Summer Nationals

I came home with one bronze medal.

But I also came home knowing that there were probably two other events where I was capable of doing much better.

A few years ago, that would have bothered me for a long time.

It still bothers me.

But now I'm more interested in understanding why it happened.

Getting better at fencing isn't just about figuring out why you win.

Sometimes you learn more by figuring out why you didn't.