The Porthos Tournament: "Pure Adrenaline"...

In 2022, the Porthos Tournament for U15 took off to Spain.

The two finalists of the Porthos Tournament went on to become champions in their respective regions: Pau Gili López from Spain became the Champion of Catalonia, and Maxime Delevacque from Vittel became the French National Champion in the U17 N2 category.

For the first edition in the under-17 category, a young Belgian fencer, Hervé Colling, wins this individual one-touch challenge against all participants of the "Challenge Aramis." This young globetrotter represented Belgium at the European Championships in the U17 category (while he was still U15). He is now strengthening a Parisian team he joined as a warm-up for the end-of-season Championships. He has already trained in various European clubs: FrHWadern (GER), Cercle d'Escrime Luxembourg, Escrime Sud (LUX), Parcival Leuven (BEL). A new champion to watch…

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Reflections from Hervé Colling,Winner of the 2023 Porthos Tournament in Levallois.

Interview conducted on: January 8, 2023.

Aramis & Cie: At what age did you start fencing?Hervé Colling: At 9 years old.

A&C: What was your training club?H.C.: Fechterring Hochwald-Wadern (Germany).

A&C: Where do you practice today?H.C.: FrHWadern (Germany), Cercle d'Escrime Luxembourg, Escrime Sud (Luxembourg), Parcival Leuven (Belgium).

A&C: Who is your current coach? And your previous ones?H.C.: Peter Molter (Coach), 1-2 lessons per week for the past 4 years.

My father is an épée fencer.Michel Colling, my uncle, trained in France and was previously a full-time coach at Bayer Leverkusen (Germany). I take one lesson a week with him.

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A&C. : Combien d'entraînements par semaine ?

H.C. : 3 à 4 fois par semaine

A&C. : Parviens-tu à conjuguer escrime et scolarité ?

H.C. : L’école en Allemagne est jusqu'à 13h tous les jours j’ai donc temps le soir de m'entraîner, sauf 1-2 semaines pour les compositions.

A&C: How many training sessions do you have per week?H.C.: 3 to 4 times a week.

A&C: Are you able to balance fencing and school?

H.C.: School in Germany ends at 1 PM every day, so I have time to train in the evenings, except during 1-2 weeks when I have exams.

A&C: You won 7 matches to claim the tournament victory. Did you quickly get into the game?

H.C.: From the very first bout.

A&C: Do you think luck plays a significant role in winning the Porthos Tournament?

H.C.: A 10% share for luck and 90% for the will to land the touch.

Most matches lasted between 2 and 10 seconds. I always took the initiative to score the touch.

The ideal match was:

"Prêt-Allez" : Beat in quarte, disengage, and it’s all over in 2 seconds.

A&C: What do you feel when landing that final touch in the tournament final?

H.C.: Pure adrenaline. It’s much faster than a traditional competition, with no time for elaborate tactics.

A&C: Would you be willing to defend your title?

H.C.: Without hesitation!

A&C: Do you already have a record of achievements or good competition results?

H.C.: Yes.

• 2x Belgian Champion (Individual): U13 in 2019, U15 in 2022 (no championships in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID).

• Winner of the Marcel Van Laecke U17 Tournament in Ghent (Belgium) on the Belgian National Circuit (in 2021 and 2022).

In 2022:

• Qualified in Belgium for the U17 European Championship 2022 in Novi Sad (Serbia) while still U15.

• 2nd place in U15 Challenge Wratislavia, Wroclaw (Poland).

• Winner of the Windmühlenmesser Cup in Solingen (Germany) on the U17 National Circuit.

A&C: What is the main goal of your season?

H.C.: Qualification for the European and World Championships, and to not just be a tourist there.

A&C: And your longer-term ambitions?

H.C.: To compete in the Olympics.