Clare L. Deming

It’s finally here! Summer Nationals started on June 22nd, and hordes of fencers will be converging on the Columbus Convention Center in central Ohio through July 3rd. If you missed my earlier post, you can catch up on the basic facts of the event here.

This year I decided to drive because I’m fencing on three separate days and the airfare was rather unfriendly. I packed my tournament equipment, which doesn’t differ much from my everyday practice equipment at this point. I threw an extra lamé in the car, double-checked that my competition mask was in my bag, and tossed a lot of extra socks in my suitcase. About nine hours later, I have arrived!

Dinner or fire?

I have checked in at an Extended Stay America for the week, which features a kitchen. I unpacked my cooler, and since it was too late to order dinner anywhere, set to work cooking myself a carb-heavy meal. I searched out a plate, spatula, knife, fork, and colander, only to discover that I lacked a pot to boil water. With a quick trip to the lobby, I obtained two pots. The woman working at the front desk seemed surprised that I really wanted to cook. Wasn’t that one of their advertising points? She warned me to be careful not to set off the smoke alarms.

Dessert – Nutella with strawberries

Well everyone should be happy to know that I managed to boil water without setting off the sprinklers. I don’t fence until the afternoon tomorrow, so I hope that this meal will stay with me through the day. I don’t like to eat much immediately before or during a tournament. Most importantly though, I remembered dessert!

Each event in a tournament is given a check-in window an hour in length. The first round of fencing typically starts thirty minutes after the check-in ends, although with the increased prevalence of computerized tournament software, sometimes this happens faster. I used to plan on arriving at the beginning of that window, but for tomorrow I’ll probably arrive earlier than that. I need to allow enough time for my warmup.

For the first day of competition, I’ll have to take my equipment to be tested and approved by the armorers. They will evaluate it for safety and conductivity. Once each piece passes for the first event, it doesn’t need to be retested on the following days.

I don’t have any particular rituals or routines that I need to perform before my event. I’ll bring an iPod with some music for my warmup. If I’m at the venue early enough, I’ll watch some of the other events. I might scan the vendors for interesting new gear, although I rarely buy anything until later in the day.

For other fencers, how do you prepare on the day before a tournament? Do you have a unique routine? Does it differ for a local event when compared to one where you need to travel?