Having been selected for funding to train for the 2012 London Olympic Games, fencing prodigy Lance Bombardier Lee Spiers now aims to compete against the world's best. Report by Cliff Caswell.

Armed with a winning combination of speed, agility and fitness, the young gunner quickly proved to be a formidable match in any duel. And it did not take the Junior Non-Commissioned Officer long to battle his way through the ranks of champions.



Now the 28-year-old, who took up the classic military discipline because he wanted to "try something different", is on the threshold of the ultimate achievement after being selected for funding to train for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Having passed selection for the Olympic Pathway Scheme, LBdr Spiers, who is currently serving with Plymouth-based 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, said he was focused on upholding expectations of a winning British performance at the Games:

"It is absolutely awesome to have been chosen for funding especially after so many experienced people applied," said LBdr Spiers. "I have four years to make the grade and my aim now is to compete against the world's best.

"As my record currently stands, I have represented Devon four times, the Army twice, and I have fenced for the Combined Services on five occasions."

Despite his successful string of performances, however, LBdr Spiers is well aware that he will face a different breed of competition in the Olympics and that the public will be looking for winners in the wake of Team GB's medal haul in Beijing last year.

LBdr Spiers believed that he could repay the strong confidence of selectors in the pathway scheme after becoming one of only a handful of fencers to receive the cash-backing which is worth around £8,000 over the coming four years. He said:

"The initiative is designed to support those who have the potential of a medal at the 2012 Games and the selection process was very challenging.

"The panel included physiotherapists and nutritionists and there were reaction and bleep tests. Sports scientists even drew up graphs on us.

Lance Bombardier Lee Spiers has been fencing for three years "While there were many people who were more experienced than me, they were not deemed to have the attitude and determination the selectors were looking for, which is probably where being in the Army did me a few favours."

LBdr Spiers, who has only been fencing for the past three years and competes in the epee class, recently completed the demanding ten-week Army physical training course at Aldershot:

"I'd love to teach sport and to coach," he admitted. "Training is my life, and I don't see being a PTI [Physical Training Instructor] so much as a job, just something that I really enjoy doing.

"Fencing also really appeals to me because there is absolutely no ambiguity about it - you are either good enough to hit your opponent or to stop them hitting you. And for the nine minutes you are competing, it is 100 per cent effort.

"To be successful you must have lots of explosive power in your legs and strong fitness levels. Competitions last for a day, so you have to be able to work in bursts.

"I became involved in fencing because it seemed something different when I saw it in the gym. Six months later I was going to competitions and had become both an Inter Service Master Swordsman and Army Master at Arms."

As well as focusing on his olympic ambitions, LBdr Spiers, who was born into a military family in Germany and whose father is a serving lieutenant colonel, is hoping that his sporting abilities will help raise cash for less fortunate soldiers.

This year he is competing in the Plymouth half-marathon in full fencing kit, and is confident his unusual adventure will attract sponsorship for Help for Heroes.

LBdr Spiers concluded:

"I'm really looking forward to the coming four years - fencing is a great sport with a great social side and I've met some superb people through it. Now it is time to get ready to take myself to the next level."

This article is taken from the February 2009 edition of SOLDIER - Magazine of the British Army.

The supporters Club wish Lee all the best