Dynamo Fencing being one of the hubs for Canadian fencing was confirmed when the national teams were announced for the 2016 Junior and Cadet World Championships, slated to start Friday in Bourges, France.
The Richmond-based club will be well-presented with six athletes named for individual competitions. They include homegrown talent Dylan French, Natasha Kis-Toth and Elizabeth Douglas.
French was a bronze medalist at the Cadet Worlds in 2014 and later that summer was Canada’s flag bearer at the Youth Olympic Games in China. This time, French will be competing in Junior Men’s Epee. He recently wrapped up his freshman season at Notre Dame for the top 10 ranked Fighting Irish.
Kis-Toth and Douglas will be be competing in Cadet Women’s Epee and ironically both live in the same Richmond neighbourhood. At the Cadet/Junior Pan Am Championships earlier this month in Cancun, Mexico, Kis-Toth captured bronze and Douglas was fifth.
“We’re all like family here at Dynamo,” said Kis-Toth. “There’s lots of competitions where we face each other and that’s the hard part. You have to get over the fact it’s your best friend and teammate. “You have to set your mind and just fence.”
Three other Dynamo fencers will also be competing in France. They include: Fynn Fafard (Cadet Men’s Epee), Emma Von Dadelszen (Junior Women’s Epee) and Matson Lalor (Junior Men’s Epee).
The championships run from April 1-10.
