GEORGE NEWS - A local 14-year-old fencer, Tyla Rae Glynn, has just returned from the Junior African Zonal Championships with a silver and a bronze medal.
She only started fencing during lockdown, which makes her achievement even more remarkable.
According to her coach, Susan Agrella, Tyla Rae spent the past year dedicating herself to intensive training to perfect her footwork, reaction time, blade work and fitness.
She rose from 24th position on the national ranking to 10th in September 2022 by winning a silver medal at the Junior National Championship.
In December 2022 she fenced herself into the junior national team by rising to 4th position on the national ranking list. "This is an almost impossible task given the strong fencers ahead of her," says Agrella.
The team was announced just before Christmas, but Tyla Rae did not take a holiday.
She trained six days a week, and this clearly paid off when she participated in a very hot and humid Ghana.
Bearing in mind that she is only 14 and was participating in the u.17 category, it testifies to the results of hard work, dedication and perseverance.
Throw in a bout of Covid, a debilitating knee injury and migraines from a neck strain in between her training, and it becomes clear that this is a girl to watch in future.
Tyla Rae lunges in a basic attacking move.
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