On Friday 14th February 2025, the 6-7pm junior class ran a little competition between themselves, overseen by Coach Will, with some help from Sofia (not pictured – as I had to crop an old photo!). With eight juniors in attendance, the competition was held over one poule, with each attendee fencing all of the others. Each duel, was similar to a true competition, with the fencers against the clock and fighting until the first to reach 5 hits.

As you will see, the fencers names are to the left. If you scroll across (left to right) from their name, you will see in each column an entry. If the column has a ‘V’ in it, it means that they were victorious in that battle and, the number underneath, is the number of hits that they landed in that battle. If there is no ‘V’ and just a number, it means that they lost that battle, but shows the number of hits that they landed against their opponent.

In this instance, you will see that fencer number one was Alex. As you scroll across, you will see that when he fenced James (fencer number two) he was victorious and scored the full five hits (if you run out of time, you will still be declared the winner even if you haven’t managed the full five hits, as long as you are leading). You will then see that when he fought Theodora (fencer number three) he lost that match but managed to score three hits against Theodora. If you scroll down to Theodora, you will then see that she has a ‘V’ in her first column, as well as the number ‘5’, showing that she beat Alex by 5 hits to 3. Scrolling left to right against your name, shows how many matches you won and the number of hits you got against your opponent. If you go to the column number that corresponds with your name (so, if you look at column 1 for Alex and column 3 for Theodora) you will see how many hits your opponent got against you. So, You will see that James didn’t manage to score any hits against Alex (as there is a ‘0’ in his column) and Theodora was hit three times by Alex as there is a ‘3’ in her top column, meaning she won the duel 5 v 3.

At a competition, once this section is completed, it determines the seeding the for next stage of the competition, called a Direct Elimination. We didn’t have time for this, but in a DE, if you lose, you lose and are eliminated from the competition. This continues until a winner is crowned.

The seedings are worked out on the following levels:

1. by the percentage of matches won. It has to be the percentage of matches because in some cases the poule numbers may be uneven, so the number of matches played will also by odd.
2. if the fencers from the same or different poules have the same number of matches won, then we look at the HS/HR Total (Hits Struck v Hits Received Total) or, as is commonly known at competition ‘The Indicator’. The higher the indicator, the higher the seeding.
3. If the percent of matches won and the indicator scores are the same, the next level to work out the seeding is ‘Hits won’. This is who, out of the fencers struck an opponent the most times. Although the indicators may be the same, it may be made up of a different combination of hits scored versus hits received, so the fencer who managed to strike more will be declared a higher seed. Thankfully, normally, we do not need to work out any more levels – but I’ll explain that if we ever need to!

So, as you can see, on this occasion Theodora was our most successful fencer. She won 100% of her duels on the evening and managed to score an indicator of 20, meaning that she hit her opponents 20 times more than they managed to hit her! It’s always a good sign when your indicator is a positive number!

Very well done to Theodora on her victory – will she be able to do the double?

And, a huge congratulations to all those fencers who took part. You conducted yourselves with good sportsmanship, professionalism and most importantly, plenty of flair! We can’t wait for the next one…where I promise to try and get a better photo…and of all of you!

Well done everybody.

On another cold, wet and dreary Sunday, Claudia and Sofia made the maddening journey down to The Triangle Leisure Centre, in Burgess Hill, for the 2025 South East Region Youth Championships.  Both competing in Epee, the girls had the same registration time of 12.15pm, meaning that at least it wasn’t too early a start, on a Sunday, at the beginning of February!

Sofia was competing in the Girl’s U18 epee, which consisted of 17 fencers and, Claudia competed in the Girl’s U16 epee, consisting of 19 fencers.  With a number of Byes, for the competition, being claimed (possibly by those in the midst of GCSE/A-Level mock exams) it meant that, for both girls, they would need to place well, in order to qualify for the British Youth Championships in May 2025.

Despite the odd numbering in the poules, both girls found themselves in a poule of 6 fencers.  Despite a tentative start from both, they managed to keep their composure and after each of their five duels, both girls, in their respective ages, came out as having won all five bouts.  In the Under 18’s, Sofia was the only fencer managing this feat, putting her into the Direct Elimination (DE) as the top seed.  Claudia, in the Under 16’s, was one of only two fencers to win all five bouts, but her indicator score pushed her down into the second seed placing.  With the numbers fencing, both girls, thanks to their high seeding, were given a bye into the last 16 of the tableau.  Sofia came through her final 16 bout, with what looked like an evenly fought match, winning 15-11.  Claudia’s match was of much the same result, fencing against a competitor from the poules, she managed a 15-10 victory to take her through to the final 8 as well. 

Claudia’s next competitor had a ground swell of support from her fellow team mates, which made the bout all the more intimidating for Claudia.  However, from being behind, she pulled up into the lead.  A few double hits later, it looked like she could be progressing into the semi-finals, however, the shorter competitor of the two took advantage of a couple of run-ins from Claudia, landing the hits that put her in the lead.  Unfortunately for Claudia, it was the double hits at the end that saw her knocked out, as she was unable to take the full advantage and pull back into the lead.  Her day ended with her finishing in fifth place overall, which was quite the achievement, given some of the competitors who finished below her on the day.  Well-done Claudia.

Sofia’s quarter final match finished much quicker than the earlier DE.  She managed a 15-8 win against her opponent, who was unable to contemplate Sofia’s slower, more defensive stance and, Sofia regularly took advantage of the rash moves by her opponent.  However, Sofia’s next match (the semi-final) was in similar vein to Claudia’s; with the vast numbers of support for the opposing player, doing their best to rattle the Gravesham girl.  With the lead to-ing and fro-ing, it was the opponent who managed to settle in the lead.  With four or five double hits being scored, it was 14-11 to Sofia’s competition.  Unfortunately for Sofia, despite remaining composed, the opponent managed to land the final, fateful hit that saw her, and not Sofia, progress to the final.  This meant that Sofia finished 3^rd overall.

As previously mentioned, despite a number competitors taking their allotted byes for this event, both Claudia and Sofia placed highly enough that they have both qualified for the BYC’s in May of this year.  Let’s just hope that their school exam timetables allow them to compete!  Well done girls, keep flying the flag for Gravesham, you are doing us proud!

Despite a slow start to the evening; probably due in part to the poor weather and the ‘January Blues’; the numbers soon picked up and we had a very healthy nine competitors for the first monthly competition of the year.  With the usual January winner, Henry, at the Vicar’s for tea and a meeting about his upcoming nuptials, this event was ripe for a new champion.  Rumour has it that Rob was also missing due to his inherent fear the predicted one-hit format!

Indeed, Rob’s prediction was correct.  The need to ease the fencers into the new competition year, as well as re-train the scorer, made for an easy format for the first event of 2025.  The rules were as follows:

1.  Everybody fences everybody else
2. You have one minute per duel
3. In the event that a fencer lands a hit, s/he wins the match
4. In the event that a double hit is obtained, then the match is finished with neither fencer scoring
5. In the event that the time runs out, the match is finished with neither fencer scoring.

After some initial dilly-dallying whilst we waited for Will to finish some coaching and, the fencers to complete warm-up matches, we raced through the event with ease.  During the event there was plenty of haranguing of the scorer from Dave, Mark, Peter and Sandy as they were neck and neck on games won and, desperately trying to work out if there were any techniques to become champion, or, which clashes were left, so that they might predict who would win.  Steve tried to pull a fast one in his match with Dave; which would have given Dave the win over Sandy, but the scorer was on to his unscrupulous behaviour and made sure that the event was completed in a true and fair manner!  Peter had been the early leader but with the later matches seeing him acquire two losses and a double hit, Sandy, Mark and Dave saw their chance to make a dent in that lead. 

Richard fought valiantly throughout the evening – another casualty of injury, he was fencing with his non-dominant left hand.  Despite this he secured a great hit against Claudia and, managed to hold Meri to a time out.  Claudia kept her composure throughout the event scoring a surprise hit against the in-form, Peter; managing a double-hit with Sofia; a time-out against Meri and, finally, scoring the win against an unusually lacklustre Steve.  The best match had to be Steve versus Meri.  With Steve attempting to run at, and attack, Meri, she held her nerve to score the hit during an entanglement of bodies!

Once all of the matches were played, the total wins were added up for each player.  With Dave, Mark and Sandy all on six wins each, we had to rely on some sort of countback to determine a winner.  With Dave and Sandy both having a match each that was timed out or a double hit, rather than an outright loss, Mark was demoted to third place.   Then, on the countback of who had won the Sandy versus Dave match, it was determined that, as the winner of that match, Sandy had to be crowned January 2025 Champion.  Peter came in fourth with five wins.  Steve, Claudia and Sofia all managed two wins each, but with the girls each managing to time-out or double hit in two of their matches, that saw them placed in fifth equal and Steve pushed down to seventh.  Meri managed the eighth spot, despite having one win to her name just like Richard, but again it was the double-hit/time out ruling that saw her push him into the final placing. 

It was a fun and interesting evening (and for the scorer, a relatively easy one too!).  Well done to all those who competed and a special congratulations to the man who has knocked Henry from his perch as the usual January champion – Sandy!  Congratulations Sandy, may this be the start of a good year for you!

Next competition commences on the last Tuesday in February – details of the format to be decided!

With the first foil competition after the Covid pandemic taking over two years, it is a pleasure to report the Annual Gravesham Foil Competition for 2024 was completed within seven months of its commencement.  With a very healthy eleven competitors taking part, there were plenty of opportunities for the members to either hone their skills in this discipline, or, learn some new talents.  As it was the responsibility of the Honorary Chairman to keep tabs on the results of the poules and direct eliminations, the author of this report cannot provide more than the final placings and photos of the presentation ceremony (thanks go to Sandy for the pictures!).  Special mentions must be made to Sandy, who commenced this competition whilst overcoming a foot injury; Phil, who managed a very credible sixth place, having had shoulder surgery and starting the competition fencing left-handed and finally, Helen, who decided to take on the men despite not having long returned to fencing.  This author also has the memory of a fish (thanks to her age) and such a limited knowledge of fencing that she is unable to provide any commentary on the competition, so I shall leave it by commending Joe on his win, Steve on his second place…and Vets Champion and, Sandy and Paul in joint third.  Congratulations to all who took part for making it a fun and spirited competition and we wish you all the best of luck for this year’s competition.

FINAL PLACINGS:

1 – JOE

2 – STEVE (AND VETS CHAMPION)

3= – SANDY / PAUL

5  – PETER G

6 – PHIL

7 – MARK

8 – ROHAN

9 – KEVIN

10 – HELEN

11 – PETER H

Your medallists.  Post matches, pre medals.

Steve and Paul – “pose looking strong lads; not like we’re going to suffer tomorrow”

Joe – “Anyone want another ten rounds of points to 15?”

Third place medallists – Paul and Sandy

Due to a small technical issue, only one medal was available on the night – clearly one medal that neither man wanted to let go of!

Silver medal presentation – Mark bowing to Steve’s foil prowess

Steve – “what do you mean only second?”

Steve – “in my modelling career, you would either hold the prop like this…”

“…or the prop would take centre stage…like this”

Steve – “two medals?  I never had this many props to deal with in my modelling career!  Now, are they supposed to cover anything in particular?”

Steve – “Two medals and I’m the Vets Champion.  I best pull out my best ‘power pose’ for the camera”

2024 Annual Foil Competition Winner, Joe, receiving his medal.

Steve – wondering what might have been if he’d spent more time practising his fencing instead of his modelling poses (by the way, ‘the relaxed, nonchalant look’ is another catalogue classic pose)

Your Gravesham 2024 Annual Foil Competition Winner – Joe

Your Gravesham 2024 Annual Foil Competition Medallists

L-R – Joint third, Paul and Sandy; Winner, Joe; Second and Vets Champion, Steve

Paul – “What does this medal look like, is it worth a fight in the car park later?”

Your medallists again

Paul – “yep, I’ll have this off of his neck by the end of the night…”

2024 Gravesham Annual Foil Competition – Medallists

Paul, Sandy, Joe, Steve

Well done everybody.

The three winning musketeers – Henry, Sandy and Phil

In what was to be our last monthly club competition of 2024 before the festive break, it was decided that the competition would take the form of a team relay.  With twelve attendees (and a latecomer, who was subbed in for the final and third place play-offs) there were four teams of three, with the seeding decided by ‘The Oracle’ (Mr Nash).  Playing across two pistes, Team A (Paul, Claudia and Mark) were up against Team B (Rob, Jaina and Peter), whilst Team C (Steve, Richard and Dave) were competing against Team D (Phil, Henry and Sandy) for a place in the final.  With last year’s team pairing of Mark and Peter (who managed to win every team event last year) split up for this event, would either of them become victorious, or was it to prove that their pairing is what kept their teams strong last year?

Mark and Peter found themselves on Piste 1, with their teams competing against each other.  Paul’s team took an early lead, but by the end of the first round of the three fencers, the scores were evenly tied at 15-15.  Rob’s team then powered forward and by the end of the second round of three fencers, his team had a commanding 30-22 lead which, after the next duel looked insurmountable at 35-22.  A comeback from Paul’s team saw the penultimate fight finish at 40-28 in favour of Rob’s team with the final fencers still to go.  Not a team to give in, Paul’s trio gave a final flourish, pulling back 14 points, but the doubles were enough to see Rob’s team victorious by 45 points to 42 and, putting them in the final. 

Piste 2 was a much livelier affair!  Despite Henry breaking his sword blade to a 45-degree angle against Steve’s bulging bicep in the first round, he managed to hold his composure and put Sandy’s team 5-1 up.  The next round didn’t fair much better for Steve’s team, finishing at a 10-4 loss, but the third fencer up, Richard, gave the team hope and fought back to only a three-point deficit. By the end of the second round of the three fencers, Steve’s team was down 30-21.  With seemingly no way back the team rallied in the penultimate fights, but couldn’t keep the momentum going, eventually succumbing to 45-35 loss.  This saw Sandy’s team progress to the final, against Rob and his compadres!

The third-place play off saw Team C (Dave, Richard and Steve) compete against Team A (Paul, Claudia and Mark).  Both teams were evenly matched up until the fourth pairing, which saw Paul’s team pull ahead by 4 points.  Despite staying behind, the next two matches saw a comeback from Team C and, then saw them pull ahead 40-36, before the final duel.  At the end of the three-minute time limit, the score had been evened to 45-45.  Paul’s team were dealt ‘priority’, not that they needed it, as Paul managed to land the winning hit within 11 seconds and secure the third-place title for Team A (Paul, Claudia and Mark).

The final saw Team B (Rob, Jaina and Peter) take on Team D (Phil, Henry and Sandy).  Again, the teams were evenly matched in the first two pairings, however, by the end of the third tie, Sandy’s team had taken a 15-10 lead.  This though, was short-lived.  Rob’s team fought back well over the next two rounds to take 25-23 point lead.  Not to be outdone, the lead to and fro’d over the next three rounds, putting all the pressure on the final two fencers to ‘bring it home’ for their respective team.  Sandy’s team had taken a small lead, 40-38, which gave them the smallest cushion for the final fight.  Holding their nerve, they nailed the final bout and came out victors with a 45-40 victory.   With neither Mark or Peter on the winning team, it just goes to show that we should be wary of them partnering in the future too!

Well done Team Sandy, the victors on the night.  Wooden spoon to Team Steve (even if was by the very smallest of margins!).

Congratulations to everybody who has taken part in the monthly club competitions this year.  They really have seen some tremendous fencing ability, as well as giving us some very entertaining Tuesday nights.  We all look forward to next year, to see what formats Mark and Paul can come up with, but, in the meantime, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a very Happy New Year and, a healthy a prosperous 2025!

A huge congratulations to Kevin, who finished a very commendable 9^th place, in both the epee and foil competitions, at the Civil Service 2024 National Service Championships on the weekend of 30^th November/1^st December 2024.  Kev was extremely pleased with both of his results.  The foil was to be expected; not being his primary weapon, but the epee result was particularly pleasing given the quality of the field.  The highlight of the day was scoring points against the eventual winner in the poules of the epee, with Kevin declaring that the winning fencer was of quite considerable quality.  Well done, Kevin, hopefully you’ll get a nice rest over the festive period now and, come back fighting with a renewed force in 2025! 

On Sunday 24^th November 2024, Sofia, alongside family supporters and Coach Will, made her way down to the Triangle Centre, at Burgess Hill, for the 2024 Sussex Fencing Open.  Competing in the Women’s Epee, she had a tough fight against both the exuberance of the youth entrants, as well as the wisdom of the older athletes in attendance. 

With 13 entrants overall, Sofia found herself in the larger of the two poules.  Despite fencing very well, she found herself finishing even; 3 wins and 3 losses.  The -7 indicator did not do justice to the quality of her fencing in the poule.  However, she managed to seed well at seventh place, giving her the opportunity to fight the tenth seed in the first round of the Direct Elimination.  Unfortunately, she lost the DE 12 v 15.  Coach Will declaring that she “fought well, but was unable to escape the double hits on this occasion”.  Overall, Sofia finished ninth in a highly competitive epee contest.  Congratulations Sofia and, onwards and upwards for the next competition. 

Oct/Nov Winner, Rob – being praised by his ‘adoring’ fans!

Having completed a week of poules at the end of October, the competition was never really finished due to the absence of a scorer, as well as fewer numbers over the half term weeks.  It was decided to relaunch the competition on the second Tuesday of November and see if we could complete it one night. 

With fourteen fencers in total, we amassed two poules of seven fighters.  The poule fights were to be held over three minutes, with a one-hit winner rule. In poule 1, Dave Mark and Paul came up top trumps, each winning five of their seven duels.  Finally trying to return to using his dominant arm after surgery, Phil put up a good showing winning three of his matches; which left Claudia, Jaina and Sofia to wallow at the bottom with one winning match each.  In poule 2 Sandy came up top trumps winning five of his six matches.  Ellora and Steve were level pegging on four wins each.  Next up were Richard and Peter with three wins each, with Jake and Rob languishing at the bottom, of a much more evenly matched poule, with a single win each.  There were numerous cries of bad sportsmanship, with many claiming that Rob was on a ‘hustle’, but as Rob put it himself, he is much more a ‘long-game strategist’ and that the one-hit win rule was detrimental to his style of fencing!  Only the final result would prove who was right!

Whilst the seeding was being determined the DE rules were explained.  They were as follows:

DE matches were to be a two-minute affair.

The winner would be determined by who scored three consecutive hits.

In the event that the leading scorer had his/her three-hit run cut short by their opponent, then the scoring would return to 0 – 0.

In the event that the two minutes finished, it would be the fencer who had the score who would win, whether that be at 1-0 or 2-0. 

Double hits would also see the score return to 0-0

Thankfully, the rules needed to be clarified a couple of times, as in the back ground, Paul had devised a seeding strategy for all those fencers who had the same percent of games won (as there was no indicator, due to it being a one-hit win).  Having received ‘the look’ from the scorer and, then a determination that Stephen Hawking couldn’t make Paul’s method work, it was decided that seeding would be determined on (1) percent of games won and (2) alphabetical first name order!

Dave and Mark found themselves in the enviable position of receiving a bye for the first round of DE.  Richard beat Phil with the full three consecutive hit quota, as did Rob against Sandy and, Steve versus Jaina.  Jake beat Ellora with a single hit in the two required minutes, Paul managed to overcome Sofia with two hits and Peter managed the same against Claudia. 

The quarter-finals saw Dave and Richard timed out, with Dave managing to land a single shot at the last, to take the win.  Rob, having warmed up, with more than a single hit, managed to land the three consecutive shots required against Jake, as did Peter versus Mark.  Steve could only land a single shot within the time to beat Paul, having seen the score reset to zero each, a number of times.

In the semi-finals, Dave, despite his reach and precision, was beaten by Rob, with the three consecutive hits required.  Peter could only manage two consecutive shots against Steve, in the two minutes allowed, to set up a final for himself against Rob. 

After a toing and froing between the two fencers, which saw the score resetting to zero more than once, Rob eventually found his mojo and managed to land the three consecutive hits that saw him crowned October/November 2024 Champion.  Well done, Rob.

On Sunday 17^th November 2025, Claudia and Jake made their way to the Tonbridge School Centre, to compete in the Kent Closed Junior Championships.  Both were entered in their respective Under 16 Years Epee events. 

First up was Jake.  Finding himself in Poule 1 (of three).  His first match saw him lose 5 v 2, in a very evenly paced match, with the score not doing Jake justice.  In his second outing he led from start to finish, with the turning point being an exquisite foot shot to take him 3 v 0 up.  A double hit was made before Jake triumphed 5 v 1.  His third duel was against the eventual winner and a seasoned pro from Kings School.  With his opponent towering over him, it was the reach that saw Jake lose 5 v 1, again, a scoreline that didn’t reflect some great work from Jake throughout the three minutes.  The fourth pair-up was against the star of the poule and the 5 v 1 loss for Jake highlighted his opponent’s prowess throughout these rounds.  The fact that Jake managed a hit against his opponent was in stark contrast to the majority of the rest of the poule contenders who failed even that.  Jake’s final poule match was a greatly evenly contested affair.  Having been timed out at 3 v 3, Jake should have led albeit due to a dubious call from the referee about a foot shot from his opponent, which had levelled the score.  Despite Jake winning priority, on the spin of pen, his opponent took the luck he had been dealt and managed to score the wining hit in the extra minute. 

With the poules over, Jake seeded 19^th, missing out on being on the top half of the group purely by indicator score.  He led his first DE from start to finish, against the 14^th seed.  It was an absolutely masterclass display of fencing and the 15 v 9 victory score gave more credence to his competitor than was due.  Next up, and in the last 16, he faced the number 3 seed.  Having initially gone 3 v 0, Jake battled his way back to 3 v 3, but finished the first 3 minutes at a 4 v 9 deficit, having scored a double hit to keep himself in contention.  The contender managed to secure three more points, nearing himself to the victory.  However, Jack fought back to score another point.  A further point was disallowed by the referee and the momentum, from then on, stayed with his competitor, with Jake eventually losing 15 v 5.  Overall, Jake finished 14 out of 24 entries, which, given the calibre of entries this year, was a fine achievement.  His standard of fencing on the day was absolutely exceptional and his final placing doesn’t do justice to his composure and some of the amazing shots he landed on the day.  Well done, Jake!

Claudia’s event was later starting, but with fewer competitors, it made sense.  With 13 of the 14 entries present, there were two poules, with Claudia finding herself in the larger of the two and, having to compete in six matches pre seeding.  She found herself against the predicted winner, in her fist poule fight.  A recent cold and holiday saw her making a ‘rusty’ start against the girl and the 5 v 1 scoreline was not to be argued.  The next four matches saw her win 5 v 4 in each fight, with one match a particularly good result against an old foe and, the eventual runner up.  The final pair-up saw her win 5 v 3 and, in several cases, the scorelines were closer than gave credit to Claudia’s calibre of fencing.  Finding herself as the third seed overall, she was unlucky not to receive a bye like the top two seeds.  Her first DE was a quick and easy affair, winning 15 v 5.  Her second DE fight was against one of her poule competitors.  That fight had been incredibly even matched and Claudia had just scraped the win at 5 v 4.  With that in mind, Claudia was quick to take the advantage and saw her lead for the first part of the bout.  However, her opponent clawed the score back to 4 v 4 and then took the lead 5 v 4.  Not to be outdone, Claudia composed herself and saw her take back the lead to 8 v 6 at the break. 

After the first DE break, Claudia continued to assert her dominance on the fight, gaining two more points, to take her to a four-point lead.  Noise disruption from an adjoining piste saw Claudia momentarily falter.  Her opponent took advantage to claw back two points and show only a two-point deficit.  Claudia composed herself and warded off the onslaught with a couple of double hits.  However, the disruption proved too much and her opponent took full advantage, going from 12 v 10 down to claim the last five hits and win the match 15 v 12.  Just like Jake, Claudia had a great day with the actual fencing; showing some great positioning, awareness of her opponent during the match and ability to think adeptly whilst competing.  Although disappointed with her 2^nd DE match outcome, Claudia finished 5^th overall, which was a great result, given the calibre of some of her competitors. 

Both Jake and Claudia proved today that they can face junior internationals and give them a run for their money.  They both fenced with grace and intelligence and are showing a real improvement in their ability to command a duel.  Well done to both of you, you both did the club proud!  Onwards and upwards for your next competition!

Despite some very short notice, Sofia was able to attend and compete in the SWIFT competition hosted by Royal Tunbridge Wells Fencing Club on Sunday 6th October. It was an opportunity to gain some valuable competition experience relatively locally, which Sofia did with fervour. She gained a very impressive bronze place against some difficult competition, eventually losing the DE 15 v 7 to the left handed, overall winner.

Well done Sofia. It’s been a very busy competition year for you, and a very successful one. We’re wondering if there’s any room left on the mantlepiece for all of your medals and trophies! We look forward to hearing more about your future fencing endeavours! Well done for a very lucrative 2024 so far!