Fencing: Singapore win first ever team gold at 2019 Asian Juniors and Cadets Championships
Andrea Chen (far right), NYSI Physiotherapist, with the junior women's foil team at the recent 2019 Asian Juniors and Cadets Fencing Championship. (Photo: Fencing Singapore)
Singapore fencers – Amitha Berthier, Maxine Wong, Denyse Chan, and Tatiana Wong – won the country’s first ever team gold at the 2019 Asian Juniors and Cadets Fencing Championships.
Andrea Chen, NYSI Physiotherapist, was part of the Team Singapore support in Amman, Jordan.
What kind of support did NYSI give to the fencers in the build-up to the tournament?
Andrea: The support for this group of fencers began after last year’s Asian Juniors and Cadets Championships. Based on our observations of the fencers during the Championships, we collaborated with our counterpart, Kelvin Chua (SSI Strength & Conditioning), who was driving the planning and execution of the strength & conditioning program for the fencers.
In the week prior to this tournament in Jordan, I went down to trainings on multiple occasions to observe their warm up and teach an active recovery routine. To support their periodised recovery in Jordan, and together with Tracy Veivers, SSI Psychologist, we conducted a joint recovery session between the individual and team event days of the Championships.
What is next for the fencers and what will NYSI’s involvement be?
Andrea: The fencers have the World Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships in April. There’s not much downtime so it’s a crucial period to recuperate, train and prepare for an even tougher fight. We will continue to collaborate with our SSI counterparts to support our fencers.
How did you feel when we clinched the gold?
Andrea: I felt relief at a job done as it was an intense semis and finals where our fencers came back from behind. For a sports physiotherapist, our role is to maintain and enhance performance where possible and I was glad we were able to achieve this.
Read more about the historic gold medal performance at Channel NewsAsia.