By Diane Nazaroff -
For lawyer Sam Auty, losing is the worst possible outcome. That’s why she’s a champion, writes DIANE NAZAROFF
Sam Auty was nine when she first decided to try the sport of fencing in an after-school program at her Southern Highlands primary school.
“I tried swimming, netball, skiing and cross-country but I wasn’t particularly keen on running and my parents encouraged me to take up fencing to increase my hand and eye coordination,” says Auty.
“I wasn’t a very sporty kid and fencing was something I did as I didn’t have to go for a run in the park.” But the 26-year-old Legal Account Manager and lawyer at start-up LegalVision stuck with the fastest combat sport in the world, in which each play lasts about 10 seconds before someone registers a hit and, therefore, gets a point. Auty started competing in state competitions when she was 11 and national events at 13.
She took out her first national title when she was 16 and represented Australia at the Commonwealth Junior Championships at 17, when she won “every single competition that year”.
