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Winner - Sporting Moment

The results are in!

With a whopping 55% of the vote, the Sporting Moment of the Year as voted for by you is Alex Schlindwein of CU Fencing Club.

Alex led a heroic comeback as CUFC Men’s Blues looked to have lost it in the closing stages of the Varsity match. Showing a cool head, Alex single handedly clinched victory from the jaws of defeat in what is described as the most epic comeback in CUFC Varsity history.

Jorge and Oliver recount their versions of events below. Truly a Cambridge sporting moment for the ages!

 

"In this year's Varsity after losing the Sabre match by 11 and then winning Epee by 10, the foil team had to just win their match to be victorious. With a rough start to the match, by the last bout everything seemed lost. Schlindwein entered the piste with a score of 32-40 against Monnet. Could Schlindwein pull a 13-4 in his favour? Slowly but surely he scored point after point with minor setbacks. All under the pressure and noise of a varsity final match.

It was with 6 seconds left and a score of 43-43 that Schlindwein demonstrated his best fencing. With Monnet not being fast enough Schlindwein scores a hit, 44-43. 2 seconds remained, still enough time for the dark blues to bring it back. With great confidence, Schlindwein launches forward and wins not by time running out but by scoring the last point. The whole Cambridge crowd goes wild. We all knew we had witnessed a historic moment, the most epic comeback ever remembered by CUFC. Cambridge went in knowing that Oxford was strong, having been 2nd in Premier League. Schlindwein was the hero that CUFC needed. He showed in his final year at Cambridge that he was not leaving without taking back his beloved trophy."

Jorge G. C.

 

“Our final fencer, Alex Schlindwein, steps onto the piste. In his sixth and final year at the club, he has seen a lot of CUFC’s recent history. A former captain and winner of BUCS individuals who has represented GB internationally, if anyone could let us dare to dream, it was him. However, the score deficit is large, the pressure is immense, and Oxford's final fencer is also formidable in his own right. What followed was the most exciting bout that any of us had every watched (something commented by all, including Old Blues who have watched tens of Varsities, Olympic matches and more).

Alex slowly brings the score back to parity, but we do not actually regain the lead until the score is 43-42 with under ten seconds remaining on the clock. Even then, it isn’t over yet as Oxford quickly equalise to 43-43. 3 seconds remaining. Finally, with one second left in the Men’s Blues competitive season, Alex clinches the victory for the Light Blues. We can truly say that this victory is largely down to an incredible feat of one man, in the most difficult of circumstances, achieving the almost impossible.”

Oliver H.

 

Congratulations to Alex and CUFC! All four shortlisted moments were truly spectacular, showing the best of Cambridge Sport. To watch them again, head to https://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/sporting-moment-vote-now

 

Video credit - Fernando Schlindwein