Junior Royal Navy officer Ralph Coffey brought a gold medal back across the Atlantic after a victorious performance by a team of British Forces fencers.

165 teams were invited to the event, hosted by Canada’s Royal Military College, making the two-day event one of the largest team events in the world for the sport of fencing.

S/Lt Coffey (HMS Sultan) won gold as part of a winning team performance in the epée by the Combined Services team.

There was a heavy Dark Blue presence in the Forces squad, including Lt Cdr Adrian Olliver (Flag Officer Sea Training Submarines), Lt Keith Bowers (HMS Cornwall), and Lts Amanda Hale (Illustrious) and Sacha Brooks (Flying Fox).

Consistent performances by the British Servicemen and women throughout the contest saw the visitors produce the goods across all three weapons.

Disappointingly, both the ladies’ sabre and epée and the men’s foil contestants narrowly missed medals, in each case ending in fourth place.

A bronze in the last discipline, the ladies’ foil, led by captain Lt Hale, sealed overall victory for the CS team, which brought the trophy back to the UK for the first time in 18 years.

Slightly closer to home – but still overseas – the Navy fencing team overcame a spirited Sarnia Sword club side in a series of well-fought matches in Guernsey which meant the RN retained the title in this long-established contest for the third successive year.

“The quality of the Guernsey team meant that we could not underestimate the opposition,” said Lt Cdr Matthew Clark.

“Many of our fencers were competing in Canada for the Combined Services and were able to sharpen their swordsmanship skills against some extremely able opponents.”