In his first foil event of the season on Saturday, Zac finished a respectable 9th. But that was just a warm up for his main event. He went undefeated through his epee pool and seeded 1st into DEs. He beat Ben 15-12 in the round of 8 (with the motto "any touch against Ben is a good touch..."), which brought him up against a B-rated fencer with a fast, smooth fleche attack. In order to pre-empt this dangerous fleche, Zac kept the pace of the bout fast and furious, with relentless false attacks and remises, pushing his opponent into the warning zone time after time. His opponent was not prepared for this level of pressure and made errors which Zac was able to exploit. Zac had a narrow lead through most of the bout. When the score got to 14-11, Zac relaxed a little (keeping your intensity right through to the finish is a hard thing to do) while his opponent was emboldened by knowing it was now or never (as often happens at the end of a bout), and he made 3 quick attacks to tie the score at 14. However, Zac was somehow able to dodge his opponent's final attack and get his point on to score the winning touch. It was a physically and mentally exhausting bout, and Zac looked a little drained in the gold medal bout while his opponent was very sharp, so Zac didn't get his B this time around, but proved he can play with the big boys.
- Viveka Fox, Zac's coach
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