With less than 50 days to go until the 2026 Commonwealth Fencing Championships, Guernsey’s sole flagbearer, Reeve Finch, is brimming with optimism ahead of the tournament scheduled for August 9–14 in Lagos.
Finch, a competitive fencer primarily active in the United Kingdom, is associated with the University of Salford Fencing Club and formerly trained at the Guernsey Fencing Academy. He has competed regionally and nationally in events such as the British Fencing Elite Épée Series and the Mercia Novice Open.
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A silver medalist at the Guernsey Junior Championships U14 Épée, Finch will be the island’s only representative at this edition of the event, which has been held every Commonwealth Games year since fencing was removed from the main programme in 1974.
Speaking to guernseypress.com, Finch expressed his excitement: “I’m really looking forward to it – I think it’s going to be a good time.”
Although he has plenty of competitive experience, this will be his first senior Commonwealth Championships. He was among the 18 fencers who represented Guernsey at the last senior edition in London 2022, but he heads to Lagos, Nigeria with ambition.
“I would love to get a medal,” he admitted. “Do I think it’s going to happen? Probably not. That’s the unrealistic goal. The realistic goal would be to have fun, have some fights, and learn what I need to work on.”
The championships are expected to feature hundreds of competitors from at least 25 nations. Finch acknowledged the unpredictability of the competition:
“As it’s such a wide range of countries, it’s difficult to know how good each fencer is from each country. They may not have the infrastructure for fencing as much, so you never know what to expect.”
He also expressed gratitude to his family and to Michael Van Den Bossche of the Medical Specialist Group, who is helping fund his travel, for making his participation possible.
