The Remise
Item
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Title
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The Remise
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Date
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January 1939
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volume
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4
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issue
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1
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pages
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3, 11
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content
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en
THE REMISE
(Editor’s note — Space limitations due to the addition of the Cuban–United States fencing reports has made it necessary to delete a considerable part of The Remise this issue. We apologize to our anonymous contributor and his readers for deleting many comments on general fencing subjects that were of interest.)
Insofar as classifications go, the men’s competitions in late December and early January stiffened considerably. We saw two evenings of strong contrast when the Seniors came out of hiding for the new season. Some of them from early appearances would have done well to stay there another month or two for, like the groundhog, they should have seen their shadows and returned for a further period of hibernation.
The first evening of the Cartier Team Foil contest was apparently well-seeded for all winning teams accomplished their victories with rarely a defeat. It was the final evening, two days later, when what promised to be a strong mix-up among four teams fizzled out to a two-way competition between the defending Salle Santelli “A” team and the revivified Salle d’Armes Vince team.
Warren Dow of Santelli’s was unquestionably the strongest foilsman in action that evening with laurels for aggressiveness going to Nathaniel Lubbell of Vince’s. José de Capriles proved dependable as did Daniel Bukantz, but they were both too cautious to prove exciting. Dernell Every and John Huffman were colorless and, lacking the assistance of Leo Nunes, appeared as a team going nowhere in a great hurry. The Salle Santelli “B” team might have fared better if it had not had to meet its own “A” team first.
Because of the desire to give all teams more opportunity to fence, the former method of direct elimination was discarded and pools of teams were introduced. This seemed a fair and good innovation. The fact that the finals were held over two days was apparently a necessity but a considerable fluctuation in the fencing élan of some of the men was apparent between the two evenings.
Finally, this competition introduced the four-man team with permission to substitute number 4 at any time between matches. This, I felt, worked very well, and such substitutions were used with success.
The Junior Foils Team Championship on December 8th produced some very interesting individual bouts. However, these were scattered and not restricted to any particular team, making it necessary to search during the evening for the most exciting bout then in progress.
Lacking the excitement of former years, this competition nevertheless ended in true Rover Boy style with the finals tied at 4-4 and the last bout going to 4-4 before the Salle d’Armes Vince put over a final touch to defeat the New York Athletic Club in a camera finish.
It was this competition in which we saw one fencer lunge so hard and stop so suddenly that his mask went on without him.
The Junior Épée Team Championship was a runaway sweep for the Fencers Club. The winning team was only pressed once during the evening and that rightfully in the finals against the Saltus Fencing Club. Hugh Alessandro, Robert Driscoll, and Winslow Cornett, however, were a well-balanced team of too great experience to be easily upset. William Ritayik and Ohlsen of the Saltus Fencing Club showed very good promise.
The N.Y.A.C. Annual Intercollegiate Invitational Foil Contest on December 22nd attracted a great number of college fencers on vacation. The superior skill and experience of the fencers from the metropolitan colleges was never more apparent. Silvio Giolito of N.Y.U. swept through to repeat his victory of last year. As a left-hander with a light, fast hand, he has a decidedly individual style of heady play. Although he swept through with good speed and a sureness that the others could not counteract, Giolito at the same time has competitive color and attracts the spectators even in the most one-sided of bouts.
The Columbia University team was unquestionably the strongest and best-balanced team in the Junior Team Sabre Championship on January 10th. There were more experienced men there that evening, but the Columbia team succeeded as a unit, as any team aggregation should do. Kevis Kapner of the Salle Santelli was probably the individual star of the evening by actual count, but one star does not make a team competition.
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On December 4th, Mrs. Aldo Nadi confirmed the promise that she showed in her first competition only two weeks before. We confess questioning her ability to win against the stronger novice fencers, but the fact remains that she did so in fine style by winning eleven of her twelve bouts. Her only loss was suffered in her last bout when she lost to Miss Emilie Hocher of the Salle d’Armes Henry IV. Miss Hocher’s fencing was erratic all evening, but she collected herself to fence very well against Mrs. Nadi to win 4-2. Miss Jean Voorhees of the Salle Scatizzi won a well-deserved second place in the competition. She was in good form all evening and gives promise of higher fencing possibilities.
The Women’s Junior Foil Team on December 8th was top-heavy. The Salle Santelli trio of Miss Barbara Cochrane, Mrs. Dorothy de Capriles, and Miss Mildred Stewart won 15 out of 20 bouts in their three matches of the evening. Never pressed very hard, the Santelli team appeared to be fencing only well enough to win, which is easily understandable when we realize that this team was comprised of the nation’s 5th, 7th, and 10th ranking foilwomen. The Hofstra College girls won a second place creditably and, representing a college in only its second year of fencing competition, appear to be rushing forward to a high standing in girls’ Intercollegiate fencing circles.
The Women’s Foil Competition on December 18th brought out the Juniors and Seniors in numbers. These girls produced the best fencing thus far shown this season among the women. Out of six finalists we found three, Mrs. Jarmila Vokral, Miss Barbara Cochrane, and Miss Dorothy Locke tied for first place with four victories and one loss apiece. In the fence-off, Mrs. Vokral of the Salle Hermanni of Philadelphia defeated both her rivals to win first place with Miss Locke of the Aldo Nadi Studio taking second place. Mrs. Vokral, former Czechoslovakian champion, was fencing very well as was Miss Cochrane. Miss Cochrane fenced excellently all evening, but was just unable to defeat Miss Locke in the fence-off after defeating her 4-1 in the semi-finals and 4-2 in the finals. Miss Locke did not show her usual zest in this her first appearance of the season, but her competitive experience proved a valuable asset which enabled her to take second place.
We did not feel that the fencing in the Voorhees Competition on January 8th was as good in general as the preceding women’s foil competition. Again we saw six finalists go into a triple tie for first place with four victories apiece to cause a fence-off. Mrs. Jarmila Vokral duplicated her victory of the week before but in this competition her good sense of distance and fast, accurate coupes netted her the two victories in the fence-off with only one touch made against her. She clearly outclassed her opponents on this evening. Miss Madeline Dalton of the Salle Vince defeated Mrs. Dorothy de Capriles of the Salle Santelli in a close 4-3 bout to take second place.
