Talent Spotlight: Meet Lorenzo, Professional Fencer & RIS High School student

The third in a series of interviews highlighting the diverse talents within the RIS student community, conducted by Prefect and IB student, Giulia in Year 12. Meet Lorenzo I., a High School student in Year 10 and professional Fencer.

“I became interested in fencing when I was 6 years old because one day, a friend of mine took me to the park two wooden swords, and we started playing with them. I was immediately fascinated by the sport and soon after I started practising it. What I love about fencing is the adrenaline rush that I feel in my body while attacking my opponent and the focus that I have before a match.”

Were your parents supportive of your passion?

My parents are very supportive, they give me the motivation to continue the sport every day. 

Can you describe your training routine?

As soon as I finish school I go to my training. During the first hour, we exercise and then, for two hours we train by doing matches with each other. I mainly train with older people because I have arrived at a higher level of fencing.

How does the type of sword you use affect your strategy and technique in a match?

In fencing, there are three primary types of swords that are used: foil, epee and sabre. I use an epee which means that the sword is heavier and the target area is the entire body, points can also be scored by the tip of the blade.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in fencing?

The advice that I would give to someone who is just starting out in fencing is to enjoy the sport, have fun and not stress that much about the results, because in the beginning, the results are not what you would like them to be. 

Which important lessons did you learn from your sport and how did they impact your way of living? 

The most important lessons that I learned from my sport were from my coach. He always knows how to boost my confidence and also knows how to calm me when I don’t feel confident. 

What do you believe to be one of your weaknesses and what are you doing to improve it?

One of my main weaknesses is due to a problem that I had with my knees and it affected my performance significantly, thus I started doing specific training for agility, speed and strength and I improved a lot.

How do you prepare mentally for a competition?

I don’t prepare mentally by myself but my mother always helps me to calm down and relax before an important match, she knows how to encourage me to be my best. 

What advice would you give to your 10-year-old self? 

The advice that I would give to my 10-year-old self would be to continue to fence because it’s definitely the sport for me and to always fight for what I want to achieve.

Interview by Giulia D., Prefect and IB Year 12 student