Prominent Fencer Lost To Canterbury

Press, Volume C, Issue 29536, 10 June 1961, Page 5

Prominent Fencer Lost To Canterbury

/CANTERBURY fencers will soon lose one of the sport’s most competent and enthusiastic exponents when Mrs Enid McEhvee moves to her new home in .Paekakariki. One of New Zealand's leading representative fencers, and with qualifications gained under the world's foremost authority on the French foil (Professor Roger Croznier), Mrs McEiwee has been unrivalled as a teacher of foil fencing in Canterbury. Mrs McElwee’s experience and practical and theoretical knowledge of the foil have been a valuable asset to fencers in the province, especially as the important technical aspects of the sport have been neglected in many other parts of the country because of lack of authoratative instruction. Since 1953, Mrs McElwee has each year devoted more of her time and energy to coaching than to her own competitive training. To encourage younger fencers in ensuring them more success in local competition she has withdrawn from virtually all competition fencing in Canterbury. During the last few years she has spent incalculable hours tutoring Canterbury foilists. privately, in groups, in clubs and in schools. On many occasions her own house has been used as a fencing salle, a special rubber strip or “piste” being available for this purpose. Several provincial and national champions have been trained by her. Mrs McEhvee first began group instruction at the Christchurch Boys’ High School about eight years ago and has been responsible for the many fine teams the school has produced over the years. Mrs McElwee has trained teams at the Girls’ High School and also instructed at Christ’s College and Linwood High School. With years of service on the provincial fencing council and as an officer of the Christchurch Swords Club, Mrs McElwee has become prominent as an organiser and

manager of local fixtures as well as an instructor. tn international and national competition Mrs Me. Elwee has an enviable record. At the last Empire Games, at Cardiff in 1958, she was placed fourth in the Women’s individual event, a performance equalled by only one other New Zealand fencer. Before returning to New Zealand Mrs McElwee also participated in the world championships at Philadelphia and was the New Zealand delegate to the international fencing congress held there. Mrs McElwee then travelled to France where she trained and qualified for the Diploma of Fencing. Mrs McElwee began fencing in 1944, and has been prominent in national competition since 1948. In 1949 she came fourth in the trials for the Empire Games and in 1953 she was third in the national championships. The following year she was first

in the trials for the Empire Games. In 1955, she was fourth in the Australian national championships and in the next two years was placed third and then second in the New Zealand nationals. At the Olympic trials in 1956, Mrs McElwee was placed fourth, and in last year’s nationals was fourth again.