Modern Pentathlon

MODERN PENTATHLON:

As a junior I competed in the Quebec Championships and won gold, gaining the most points for jr. men and jr. women. The Modern Pentathlon which was originally an army sport consists of five sports-running, shooting, fencing, swimming and equestrian show jumping. This is an excellent and fun sport for young people, as they are introduced to a number of sports. However, many modern pentathletes decide at some point to specialize in one of the sports as I did with fencing. 

SPORTS TIPS:

Shooting: In my first pistol shooting contest, everyone hide under the tables as pellets were flying everywhere. The competitors said that they hoped that I did not fence like I shot. Shooting was my weakest event as my parents would not allow me to have a high powered air pistol for quite some time. One thing I learned from a coach who had coached an Olympic gold medallist-Linda Thom was not to try to hold the pistol still, but to actually let the barrel move in small circles as you line up your shot. 

Flying with your air pistol can present problems as I learned first hand. I asked advice from a modern pentathlete coach on the best way to travel with my air pistol. He told me not to put the air cylinder in the case with my gun, as it could explode in the cargo hold of the airplane, so I took the cylinder on board with me in my backpack.  All went well on my way to Calgary, however, returning home my bag was searched by security and when I told them that the cylinder belonged to my air pistol, I was treated like a terrorist, even though my air pistol was in the baggage section of the plane.  Air Canada confiscated my air cylinder. They also said to my mom when she was trying to get my air cylinder back, "Do you know that your daughter was traveling with a gun?".   Sorry, AIR CANADA, but I was not the one who included shooting as part of the Modern Pentathlon event.   Anyway, just one of the many problems faced by athletes.

Swimming:  Swimming is a  sport all young people should do in my opinion. Besides, the health benefits, there is the necessity of being a strong swimmer, it could save your life as it has  mine, now that I am into surfing. Swimming also helps to develop a good looking body.

Running: In my opinion, running is a sport which wears down the body, if done to excess. I prefer to run barefoot along the firm sand at the water's edge along an ocean or lake-much easier on the joints and running barefoot helps to develop the muscles in your legs.

Fencing:  Fencing is a sport which requires cross training at other sports, or else one side of the body will be more developed than the other.  Fencing requires superior balance.  I won my North American Cup while still a rookie, but I had come off a great training camp in San Francisco and was surfing a great deal.  I know my surfing helped my fencing  tremendously by giving me better balance.  Unfortunately it does not work the other way around.   I had only been fencing for three years, however I had been involved in sport such as gymnastics since I was six years old and later competitive swimming. Almost all sports help with fencing in some way, by improving strength, cardio fitness, balance, etc.

 Most movies have given a wrong impression of the sport of fencing.  You will often see two actors who are beginner fencers masquerading as expert fencers, they have no co-ordination, put one arm up over their head (this is never done in competition, and originated when duelists had to hold candles or lamps for night dueling) and are slow. However, your top fencers are lightning fast and have great form.

There are three weapons in fencing, the epée (my weapon) which is the original dueling weapon.  It   only recently became an  Olympic sport  for women as it was previously deemed too dangerous a weapon for women. The target is the whole body. The foil, which is a lighter blade  was introduced originally as an instruction weapon as it was less likely to inflict injury on the students. The target is the torso. The saber is the weapon used by the cavalry and  a slashing action is used against your opponent.

White became the official colour for dueling, as most duels ended after one hit and blood showed up better on white.

Equestrian Show Jumping: I found this event of the Modern Pentathlon to be the most dangerous and competitors are injured. The competitors  have to draw for horses,  horses we were not familiar with and many of the horses have very bad habits. As a riding coach told me, riding is about "harmony" between horse and rider;  however, "harmony" does not happen instantaneously with a strange horse. I remember at the Canadian Championships in Calgary, someone said that they hoped they did not draw a certain horse and guess who drew that horse, myself. I refused to ride and watched while someone else was part of a wild rodeo act. It was this event which discouraged me from pursuing the Modern Pentathlon further. My most serious injury during a competition was a sprained finger after falling off a horse in one of the competitions. However, other competitors have suffered much more severe injuries.