The Marauders men’s fencing teams collectively placed fourth at the Ontario University Athletics championships and took home an individual silver and a team bronze medal
On March 1 and 2, 2025, the Marauders men’s fencing teams wrapped up their OUA season at their championship tournament in Kingston, Ont. The men's épée team finished third, foil finished seventh, and the sabre team finished fourth. Overall, the Marauders placed fourth among 13 universities across Ontario.
Over the two-day tournament, fencers competed both individually and in teams of four in épée, foil and sabre. The individual tournaments took place on the first day of the championships, followed by the team tournaments on the second day.
The most notable individual performance came from fourth-year arts and science student Oscar Hand, who took home the individual silver medal in the men’s épée category.
In the team tournaments on the second day, the Marauders continued to see success, particularly the men's épée team, which placed third and took home a bronze medal. The men’s épée team was composed of Hand, PJ Kriemadis, Mohab Mefreh, Zachary Smith and Callum Williams.
Going into the individual bouts on day one, Hand did not expect himself to medal.
“I came into the tournament ranked fifth nationally, so based on that, I didn’t think I was going to medal,” said Hand.
I came into the tournament ranked fifth nationally, so based on that, I didn’t think I was going to medal.
Oscar Hand, Épée Fencer
McMaster Varsity Fencing
“My goal was to make top eight on day one since it’s my last year fencing at OUAs. Also, being from Kingston, my family and friends were in the stands, so there was that added pressure of wanting to do well,” said Hand.
Once Hand reached the semi-finals, he did not anticipate moving on to the finals.
“The fencer I faced in the semis was the best fencer in our age group pre-COVID, and he used to always beat me when we were younger,” said Hand.
Hand also commented on the dynamics of his semi-final matchup and how he managed to secure his win.
“His general strategy is to push the opposing fencer to the end of the strip and wait for a mistake to then capitalize. However, I’m very comfortable fencing on the edge of the piste,” said Hand.
Hand was able to gain an early lead on his opponent. However, near the end of the bout, the score became increasingly close.
“I got the score to 11-6, but then he went on a 6-1 run to tie up the score, and then time was up,” said Hand.
Hand explained that when the score is tied and time for a bout is up, a coin is flipped. The two competitors then fence for one minute, and if the score is still tied, the winner of the coin flip moves on. Hand won the coin flip but still managed to score before the minute was up.
“Because I won the coin flip, he had to attack me. We ended up at my end of the strip again, and I just hit him exactly the same way I had all bout, and it was enough,” said Hand.
Hand also reflected on the performance of his team on day two of the championships. After losing to the University of Toronto in the semi-finals, they secured their bronze medal in the third-place match against York University.
“It felt disappointing because we fenced Toronto in the semi-final and lost, but we absolutely could’ve won if I wasn’t as tired as I was. We were tantalizingly close to getting gold,” said Hand.
It felt disappointing because we fenced Toronto in the semi-final and lost, but we absolutely could’ve won if I wasn’t as tired as I was. We were tantalizingly close to getting gold.
Oscar Hand, Épée Fencer
McMaster Varsity Fencing
Hand also credited his teammate, fourth-year chemical engineering student Callum Williams.
“Callum exemplified resilience, never gave up and truly put his heart into it on team day. We definitely would not have won bronze had it not been for his fencing,” said Hand.
Callum exemplified resilience, never gave up and truly put his heart into it on team day. We definitely would not have won bronze had it not been for his fencing.
Oscar Hand, Épée Fencer
McMaster Varsity Fencing
When asked to sum up the season in one word, Hand said "driven."
“I worked a lot this year on small details like accuracy and getting free hits on people’s hands. This has definitely been the year where I made my biggest jump, and I’m glad to see my work has paid off with some medals,” said Hand.
After graduation, Hand looks to continue fencing. He also stated he is looking to start coaching, as he finds purpose in passing on knowledge to younger fencers.
Overall, the McMaster varsity fencing team’s performance at this year’s OUA championships was one of their strongest in recent years. Looking forward, they aim to continue the momentum they have built this year and bring home even more medals next season.
McMaster fencing attends celebration of first Canadian Olympic fencing medalist, Marauder women's foilist demonstrates the sport with the history-making athlete
On the evening of Wednesday Nov. 14, 2024, members of the Hamilton community celebrated Hamiltonian and Olympic fencer Eleanor Harvey for making history at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this past summer.
On the second day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 29-year-old foil fencer won the bronze medal in women's individual foil after defeating opponent Alice Volpi of Italy 15-12.
With this, she became the first Canadian in history to win an Olympic medal in fencing. No Canadian before Harvey competing in any of the three disciplines of fencing - foil, épée and sabre - had ever brought home a medal from the Olympics.
No Canadian before Harvey competing in any of the three disciplines of fencing - foil, épée and sabre - had ever brought home a medal from the Olympics.
The celebration of her accomplishment was held in downtown Hamilton in The King John Building at Gore Park. The event was hosted by Hamilton artist Patrick Bermingham.
Over 100 individuals were in attendance, including the Mayor of Hamilton, Andrea Horwath, who briefly spoke at the event and congratulated Harvey on her success. Journalist Steve Paikin attended and interviewed Harvey about her career and what it was like in the heat of the moment just before and after winning her medal in the Grand Palais in Paris.
Also in attendance were some members of McMaster's varsity fencing team, as well as Head Coach Dave O'Donnell and coaches Allan Fein and Vickie Ho-Devine. Before the formal part of the event, several Marauder fencers had the opportunity to meet and speak with Harvey.
Later during the formal celebration, Harvey demonstrated foil fencing to everyone in attendance with Marauder foilist Aurora Boone. The two fenced a bout against one another in the centre of the venue, with all the attendees watching along the side of the room.
During the formal celebration, Harvey demonstrated foil fencing to everyone in attendance with Marauder foilist Aurora Boone.
After the event, Boone spoke to The Silhouette about what it was like to fence with the ground-breaking Olympian. She described the nerves she came into the match with.
"I was definitely nervous. I did end up getting a point on her which I was really happy about so I didn't get totally wiped. But yeah, I was definitely nervous. But once I got into it, I felt like the nerves kind of flew away. We were surrounded by a huge crowd of people and I had pretty much totally forgotten that once we actually started fencing. So I was pretty excited,” said Boone.
Boone also described the high level of skill which Harvey possessed and demonstrated. Boone tried to trick Harvey several times into following a pattern and then catching her off guard by changing that pattern, but Harvey would not fall for it.
“She was incredibly skilled at knowing that I was trying to fool her in that sense, so she didn't fall for it, which definitely showed me a lot of her strength because usually even the strongest of fencers, it's really hard for them to pinpoint those little intricacies,” said Boone.
The event and the match has inspired Boone for the current McMaster fencing season.
“I think it's definitely given me a lot of inspiration and a bit of a fire under me to feel like this is how good you can be when you really put in the work and you do a lot of practice,” said Boone.
Eleanor Harvey's Olympic medal is a moment in history for Canadian fencing. Following her Olympic medal, Harvey has already won another bronze medal at the women's foil world cup in Tunisia and she looks forward to achieving more success in the future.
C/O Peter Reimer, McMaster Sports
The women’s fencing team competed in the recent OUA championship, their first since the pandemic began
The McMaster women’s fencing team competed in the Ontario University Athletics championships on March 5 and March 6, their first championship since losing their last season due to the pandemic. However, the team has made a good return to form, doing well in both individual and team events.
The first day of the championship was dedicated to individual events in epee, foil and sabre. In epee and foil one can only score using the tip of their sword, while in sabre fencers are also able to score using the side of their swords. The difference between epee and foil is the sword itself — epee is a traditional sword, while foil swords are lighter and easier to maneuver.
In the individual epee, all four of the fencers — Mya George, Michelle Kim, Rachel McKenzie and Kat Silwowicz — advanced to the second round. Of the four, McKenzie, who finished in eighteenth place overall in round two, and Silwowicz moved on to the third round knockout play, where they were unfortunately defeated.
“I wish I could have done better. But in the context of COVID and having not shown up to a competition in many, many years, I was pretty pleased. I think I finished one spot ahead of my last individual OUA placing, so that’s some personal improvement,” said McKenzie.
In the individual foil, fencers Megan Foster, Katherine Hartman, Alyson Ree and Denise Sabac performed well in round one, but only Sabac managed to advance to round two, where she recorded one victor and indicator of -12 before finishing in twenty-fourth.
Fencers Amy Hutchinson, Sophie Menault, Habiba Noor and Natalie Palmer took part in the individual sabre events. Menault and Palmer advanced to the first elimination round, but both were unfortunately defeated. Palmer succeeded in claiming tenth overall, the best for McMaster in the individual events.
This year’s team roster is a bit smaller than usual, with several new members facing their first championship, for example Hutchinson. While these newer members felt they could have performed better, they were grateful for the learning experience.
“It was really good for me to go as early as I did, to go in first year to get the nerves out, figure out the format, get used to how it feels and how everything is. So, in that sense I came away feeling very excited about fencing and feeling I knew what I wanted to do next . . . I learned a lot,” explained Hutchinson.
“It was really good for me to go as early as I did, to go in first year to get the nerves out, figure out the format, get used to how it feels and how everything is. So, in that sense I came away feeling very excited about fencing and feeling I knew what I wanted to do next . . . I learned a lot."
Amy Hutchinson, Fencing Team Member
The second day of the competition was dedicated to the team competition. In the team epee, George, Kim, McKenzie and Silwowicz succeeded in scoring 12 points in the final bout, allowing them to secure a fifth-place finish.
The foil team comprised of Foster, Hartman, Ree and Saba came ninth overall and the sabre team comprised of Hutchinson, Menault, Noor and Palmer came in sixth.
While fencing is winding down for the summer months, the team is excited to get back in the game.
“I think I am just looking forward to having more time to grow with the team, having more time to compete . . . Especially like being so new, I'm really excited to kind of see what happens next,” said Hutchinson.
Looking ahead, they’re also hoping to grow their numbers and continue to recruit new fencers.
“I've seen the team pre- and post-COVID. Our numbers are way, way [lower] than they typically are and . . . I really want to see the team grow back to the size it used to be. I really [hope] to see people that are maybe looking for those opportunities they haven't gotten over COVID to come out and enjoy it,” explained McKenzie.
The fencing team also runs beginner instructional fencing programs throughout the year, including the spring and summer terms, at the David Bradley Athletic Centre.
