PAST: Dynamo Fencing Club
PRESENT: Dynamo Fencing Club at Rowan Place in Richmond
FUTURE: NCAA Div. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes
听
In a combat sport that demands unparalleled levels of concentration and mental acuity, an 茅p茅e fencer succeeds when she can master her mood. Emma von Dadelszen tempers her technical flare and flashes of speed on the piste with a social turn of the competition hall.
鈥淲e try not to be in moods,鈥� said the 17-year-old 茅p茅eist 听and reigning junior Pan American champion who鈥檚 been on Canada鈥檚 national team for four years. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter how we feel that day. Emotions, we try to take them out and are not supposed to let them affect how we perform. You have to have that fight, but you don鈥檛 want to get too emotional.
鈥淲hen I fence at my perfect best, it鈥檚 almost like I don鈥檛 need to think. It all just happens and I feel really calm and very secure but I don鈥檛 feel bored. I feel very happy and I know exactly what I鈥檓 doing and I trust myself and I know my point will land where I want it to.鈥�
A lively extrovert who is known to some as 鈥淪parkles,鈥� von Dadelszen steadies her mind and calms her nerves by talking with friends. Often booming with sound, fencing competitions are nonetheless intimate, social affairs with spectators and coaches approaching the elevated runway while opponents duel. After a bout, von Dadelszen works off her energy in a relaxed but subtly ritualized way.
鈥淓veryone is right beside each other and there are hundreds of people in the room. Everyone interacts,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 really enjoy talking to people between bouts, having meaningless conversation to distract but not get too distracted.鈥�
It鈥檚 a balance, one her friends and family understands and one that she can provide teammates when they鈥檙e competing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 what we all do with each other 鈥� it鈥檚 an unwritten rule,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou ask how they are and let them volunteer information. If they shake their head, you leave them alone.鈥�
When von Dadelszen wants time by herself to focus, she鈥檒l find a corner of the hall and listen to electronic dance music 鈥� the fewer lyrics the better 鈥� on her headphones. The dull roar of the competition salon is 鈥渁lmost peaceful,鈥� she said, a soothing white noise in the background.
A member of the Dynamo Fencing Club since the age of 10, von Dadelszen is instructed by Victor Gantsevich, also the Team B.C. head coach whom she trusts completely. When von Dadelszen attends Ohio State next season, she will be coached by Vladimir Nazlymov, a strict task-master who previously led the U.S.S.R. fencing program, including the Ukrainian team coached by Gantsevich.
Enrolled at Magee secondary in the SpArts program that accommodates her 30-hour weekly training schedule, von Dadelszen was the 2013 Canada Summer Games individual and team champion and last year earned tremendous success at the U.S. National Championship, one of the sport鈥檚 premier competitions in the world. After she reached the Top 8, an achievement in itself, von Dadelszen had a memorable 鈥� and perhaps key 鈥� conversation with friends.
鈥淚 was talking with them and I kept saying, 鈥業鈥檓 not done yet.鈥� I felt every time I fenced, I was supposed to win. I wasn鈥檛 ready to stop. I belonged there.鈥�
She reached the final and won silver.
鈥淎t that point, it was the best result I鈥檇 ever had. It was the best I鈥檇 ever fenced,鈥� said the Dynamo Club athlete who nearly turned her back on the sport after a disappointing previous season. 鈥淚 surprised myself. I got on the strip that day and it got better and better.鈥�
