Jigsaw Semester 1 2012 - International Grammar School

Going sports international
IGS students have excelled in
sports at home and away over the
past six months. Jigsaw followed
the progress of two students over
the seas to international
competitions in Russia and
France.
Matthew parries
in Russia
Year 12’s Matthew Donald spent a
week in Moscow in April, shaping up
against the world’s best in junior
fencing. He competed with a team of
three other Australians and placed
83rd in the world (out of 123),
achieving his team’s highest score.
Matthew told Jigsaw that he hopes to
gain entrance to university next year
and continue into the Opens category
in his sport.
Originally a keen and competent
swimmer, he took to fencing because
of its fitness raising and strategy. He
trains up to four times a week at the
PCYC in the Inner West and
participates in all categories—Épée,
Foil, and Sabre.
Matthew learned not only more about
his competitors while in Moscow but
was also surprised to observe that
some countries refused to engage with
each other, even at the junior level,
because of political or religious
differences.
Below: Matthew Donald competed against over 120
others in the World Junior Fencing Championships,
Moscow. Below right: Matthew in action
Left: Matthew Donald fenced from IGS ...to Moscow
Above and at right: Olivia and her team's awards
Olivia’s cool
challenge in Europe
Year 11’s Olivia Nemes-Nemeth
returned from the ice skating’ Worlds’
competition in Europe in April with two
team trophies in hand. Olivia has been
figure skating for about six years,
joining the Majestic Ice competitive
Novice team at the Canterbury Rink in
2009. She offers this insight into her
cool world of sport.
What do you like about skating and
how was Europe?
“What I love most is the feeling that
you get when you’re moving perfectly
across the ice—like flying.
"To win in Europe was incredible. It was
sort of surreal, the sort of thing that just
doesn’t happen.
The French and Swedish
home-crowds watching the events
cheered for us, so we felt incredibly
welcome and well supported, despite
having so few Australians there.
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What were the challenges?
During the short program in Caen we
had three falls, which meant we had
more deductions at that point than
any other team. Going into the free
program we weren’t sure we could
regain the ground we’d lost; but
amazingly, we had ‘the skate of
our lives’ and managed to win the
competition despite being so
far behind.
And how did the venues compare?
If you are talking about the aesthetics,
you can’t go past the Gothenburg rink.
However, as a skater I loved the rink in
Caen. It has the most beautiful ice I
have ever skated on. Compared to
Canterbury the overseas rinks looked
so much more professional, and much
more nerve-racking to skate in.
And your plans for future?
Our team hopes to continue qualifying
to skate in overseas competitions over
the next few years, and I personally
hope to move up to the Senior team in
a few years’ time, and one day to skate
in the Senior World Championships.
Below: Olivia (pictured front, second from right) with Majestic Ice