Canada finished the 2009 world fencing championships with a best ever finish; a silver medal winning performance from Sherraine Schalm. In fact Schalm nearly won gold pushing her opponent to overtime after a 8-8 draw in regulation failed to solve matters. Schalm bowed out 20 seconds into the final never the less the performance was an impressive one.
In a sport dominated by Eastern Europeans - Schalm's success at the world championships is all the more impressive when one considers the envioronment from which she comes from. In Canada, fencing is seen as having little medal potential in future Olympiads.
However, Schalm claims that her success can in part be attributed to her decision to train as as a full time athlete in Hungary.
Unfotunately training in Hungary comes with its own hurdles. Entering the 2008 Olympics Schalm was considered a medal hopfull in the sport having won bronze at the 2005 world championships. However, shortly before the start of the 2008 Olympics, Schalm was told by her coach that she was no longer welcome to train with the Hungarian national team; She lost in the opening round of the Games to a Hungarian.
Never the less if not for the decision to train abroad, one doubts if Schalm would have ever gotten to the world championships in 2009 let alone win a medal. It is with little wonder then that after winning silver she burst into tears. The journey has been a long one.
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