Coaches
Kingston Fencing Club is very lucky to have three very experienced professional coaches Lance Larson, Oksana Babaeva and Kate Smith. The club also is helped by volunteer coach Paul. All coaches are qualified, certified, DBS checked and included on the British Fencing register of coaches.
Professor Lance Larsen
Professor Lance Larsen has been a professional coach for over 20 years. He started fencing at Spokane Fencers Unlimited in Washington, USA, under his first coach, Jack Warner.
He was then trained by Maitre Leon Auriol who encouraged Lance to take up coaching as a career and introduced him to a school for fencing coaches in Dinard, France, where he was trained by Roland Genest and Jacques Reihles. After graduation, Lance moved back to Los Angeles and taught at Westside Fencing Center for six years before moving to London.
Lance currently teaches at St. Pauls School and at several clubs in the west of London as well as the City. He has qualifications with the American Coaching Effectiveness Program, as a Prevost D’Armes from the Ecole Nationale de Maitre D’Armes and as a Professor of fencing from the British Academy of Fencing.
Lance is also vice president of the British Academy of Fencing.
Together with Oksana, Lance coaches the adult and junior beginners and gives one-to-one lessons in all 3 weapons to adult fencers.
Oksana Babaeva
Oksana has a Specialist Diploma in Physical Education and Sport from the Uzbek State Institute of Physical Education 1989 and is a holder of the Soviet Master of Sport Degree.
As a five-time senior national foil champion of Uzbekistan, she was appointed junior national coach in 1998.
Oksana is now a British Fencing Level 4 coach.
Kate Smith
Kate has a highly accomplished career in fencing, spanning nearly five decades from 1966 to 2014, with notable achievements in both competition and coaching. Kate has competed at various levels, including county, national, and international events, representing Great Britain at key competitions such as the first Women’s Epee World Championships and a GB vs. USA match in New York. She was crowned senior British champion in 1988 and achieved multiple top-three placements over the years. She also had significant success in veteran categories, becoming a four-time Veteran British champion and earning podium placements in Veteran World and Commonwealth Championships.
In addition to competing, the Kate began coaching in the early 2000s, earning multiple coaching qualifications in Epee, Foil, and Sabre. She has coached at several schools and clubs, including King’s College School Wimbledon. She also played a key role in running London Thames Fencing Club for many years.
Kates contributions to fencing extend to significant volunteer work. She served on several British Fencing committees, organized U20 men’s Epee trips and training camps, and played a pivotal role in hosting events such as the Junior World Championships in Belfast and Amman. Kate has also written numerous articles for The Sword magazine, contributing interviews and reports on fencing events and seminars.
Paul Netherwood
Paul started fencing in 1985 at Kingston University fencing club. He went on to run the club for many years coaching over 100 new fencers each year. He lead the club to team wins in the national polytechnic championships as well as taking the club to compete in international student competitions.
He first joined Kingston Fencing Club in 1986 and participated in domestic and international competitions with foil being his primary weapon.
Having introduced fencing to many people over the years, Paul is keen to encourage new entrants to the sport.
Paul coaches the Adult and Junior beginners classes. Paul is a Level 1 British Fencing Coach.