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Going to the Paris World Cup! April 2015

4/28/2015

I could not train between the Pan-Ams and this World Cup because I had to rest and let my foot heal. I’m not overly worried because I feel that with my training in the last 4 years, and the experience that I’ve gained, it will not affect me giving my best performance.

Yes, training is important and missing out on ~2 weeks of training is not the most ideal situation. But I have to remember that fencing also has a huge focus on being a “mental game”; at times, being in a good mental state is just as, if not more important than the physical skills alone.

I am ready to perform and can’t wait to fence at the first World Cup of the Olympic qualification year!

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Pan-Am Championships – Santiago, Chile {RECAP} April 17 - 24, 2015

4/26/2015

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So... this was an interesting one.

I barely slept the night before the tournament due to extreme pain in my foot. I discovered a couple months ago that the pain that I had for over a decade in my foot (which I thought was some sort of tendonitis) was in fact a plantar wart. So on the morning of the tournament, I talked with our physiotherapist, Dinah, and we thought there must be some kind of blister that appeared between the callus and the wart.

Dinah punctured the blister to release the liquid and relieve the pressure. She gave me painkillers and wished me luck. Throughout the day I could not take a step without an enormous amount of pain in my back foot. Funnily enough, I ended up winning all my matches in pool, which placed me at 3rd place for the main tableau.

Still, the pain was intense but it gave me something to focus on. I had to take off my shoe between every bout but I was able to fence. I won my first DE match against a Omar Carrillo (Mexico) 15-7. I then won against Ariel Simmons (USA) 15-7 and Jason Pryor (USA) 12-10! This was huge because Team USA is a very strong team.

Next thing I know: I win in overtime 4-3 against Reynier Henriquez Ortiz (Cuba), securing me a spot in the gold medal match against 2012 Olympic Champion Ruben Limardo Gascon (Venezuela)! Unfortunately, I lost against Limardo 10-6. By this point, I was so distracted by the pain that I did not even realise that I had finished 2nd in the most important tournament for the Olympic qualification!

After celebrating with my teammates, I was ready for a good night’s sleep. But I didn’t get much because of the pain. The day after, my foot was incredibly swollen and the redness was spreading towards my ankle
(...uh-oh).

Yup, it was an infection (just my luck right?). I went to the local hospital and got treated accordingly.

Three and a half hours later: I hobbled out of the hospital with a bunch of antibiotics, a gaping hole in my foot, and a smile!

Check out photos from the Pan-Am tournament Below

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Maxime's Blog

Going to the Paris World Cup! April 2015

Pan-Am Championships – Santiago, Chile {RECAP} April 17 - 24, 2015

Check out photos from the Pan-Am tournament Below

maxime brinck-croteau

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