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Carolyn Halliwell said her parents knew she had an attitude, knew that she would be all right in a stab-and-strike sport such as fencing. It didn't seem to matter that her sport involved metal swords and slashing maneuvers or that it was dominated by boys. None of that was cause for concern, Halliwell said with a laugh. She had an attitude. She would be all right.
It turns out she was right all along. The 15-year-old Halliwell and a pair of other York Fencing Club members, Harry Adams and Andrew Schrom, recently qualified for the United States Fencing Association Junior Olympics from Feb. 15-18 in Charlotte, N.C. Both Halliwell and Adams, a ninth grader at Central York High School, are hoping to parlay their fencing prowess into college scholarships. The Junior Olympics is merely the next step.
We caught up with Halliwell and Adams in this week's installment of Sports Q&A:
How did you get started fencing?
Halliwell: My brother started six years ago and I wasn't really interested at first. Slowly, I got interested in it.
Adams: A friend got me into it and I started taking classes (two years ago). I just did it because it was something different. I thought it might be fun.
How did you qualify for the Junior Olympics?
Adams: There was a tournament based on divisions (in Harrisburg). If you make
it in the top 25 percent, you're in. Fifteen people showed up. I got second. It ended up me versus Andrew (Schrom), who got third. It was the final elimination and it almost ended up in a tie. I pulled it out in the end.
Halliwell: There were only two girls fencing, I passed right through (finishing first).
Do you ever get sick of fencing guys?
Halliwell: That's pretty much all I do. There are two other girls (in her club), one is the teacher and there's someone else. I usually just fence the guys. I'm so used to fencing them that I don't care. I actually prefer fencing guys rather than girls.
Are you excited about the Junior Olympics?
Halliwell: I'm excited, but I'm also a little stressed. Not only with all the travel, but I need to upgrade my equipment. That's just really stressful.
Adams: Oh, sure. There's going to be some good people there. You just do your best and try hard, you've made it that far.
Are there any other tournaments you'd like to compete in?
Adams: Some other big tournaments you can do are nationals and Grand Prixs (international events). It's really not about winning them, it's just about learning as much as you can from the experience and improving.
Were your parents ever worried about you fenc ing?
Adams: My mom had a theater background so she did that stuff before and was OK with it.
Halliwell: My parents weren't really worried about me at all. As they say, 'I have an attitude.' They weren't worried about me, but they didn't think I'd be doing stuff like this. It's just amazing.
-- Reach Nate Wilkinson at n8wilk@hotmail.com.
