Mr and Mrs Swain represented P.U.M.A. at the 10th edition of the Holland Cup in Pijnacker, The Netherlands on May 25th and 26th as part of a squad of 20 competitors. They had also been invited to be ambassadors for the competition, to reflect their commitment and successes at the competition in previous years, which saw them featured on promotional material before and at the competition.
The Holland Cup is a 2-day competition which sees blue belts and above competing on the Saturday, with blue stripes and below competing on the Sunday after a team event of hand picked international competitors.
Mr and Mrs Swain had a very busy day! They were part of a 5-person P.U.M.A. team pattern which won a silver medal in the first event of the day, beating the multiple time champions from the Netherlands on the way to the final. Straight after team patterns Mr and Mrs Swain were back up for the pair event of prearranged sparring. They performed a tweaked version of the routine that earned them a bronze medal at the 2018 European Championships, to beat teams from the Czech Republic and the Netherlands on their way to securing a gold medal!
A short break followed before Mr Swain was up again, this time in Individual Male 4th-6th Degree Patterns. In his first round he was drawn against the reigning World Champion, and was unable to to progress further. The next category saw Mrs Swain earn her second gold medal of the day, this time in Individual Female 4th-6th Degree Patterns.
The afternoon was not much quieter for the pair. Mrs Swain joined the P.U.M.A. Coaches working ringside with other squad members as they competed in sparring. Mr Swain on the other hand joined the officials, working as an umpire on the centre ring and was even given the opportunity to take on the role of centre referee for some of the Male Sparring Categories (his first time at an international competition)!
Mr and Mrs Swain also took the opportunity to train at Mr Kool's school on the Monday morning practising patterns and fundamental techniques alongside other international competitors, under the watchful eyes of two top international referees: Mr de Vries and Mr Brider.
More photo's can be found in this P.U.M.A. Facebook album.
If you are interested in taking part in international competitions in the future the next steps are regular attendance at P.U.M.A. Squad sessions and competing at National Championships. You can find the dates for these on our calendar or the P.U.M.A. Facebook page, or speak to Mr Swain.
The Holland Cup is a 2-day competition which sees blue belts and above competing on the Saturday, with blue stripes and below competing on the Sunday after a team event of hand picked international competitors.
Mr and Mrs Swain had a very busy day! They were part of a 5-person P.U.M.A. team pattern which won a silver medal in the first event of the day, beating the multiple time champions from the Netherlands on the way to the final. Straight after team patterns Mr and Mrs Swain were back up for the pair event of prearranged sparring. They performed a tweaked version of the routine that earned them a bronze medal at the 2018 European Championships, to beat teams from the Czech Republic and the Netherlands on their way to securing a gold medal!
A short break followed before Mr Swain was up again, this time in Individual Male 4th-6th Degree Patterns. In his first round he was drawn against the reigning World Champion, and was unable to to progress further. The next category saw Mrs Swain earn her second gold medal of the day, this time in Individual Female 4th-6th Degree Patterns.
The afternoon was not much quieter for the pair. Mrs Swain joined the P.U.M.A. Coaches working ringside with other squad members as they competed in sparring. Mr Swain on the other hand joined the officials, working as an umpire on the centre ring and was even given the opportunity to take on the role of centre referee for some of the Male Sparring Categories (his first time at an international competition)!
Mr and Mrs Swain also took the opportunity to train at Mr Kool's school on the Monday morning practising patterns and fundamental techniques alongside other international competitors, under the watchful eyes of two top international referees: Mr de Vries and Mr Brider.
More photo's can be found in this P.U.M.A. Facebook album.
If you are interested in taking part in international competitions in the future the next steps are regular attendance at P.U.M.A. Squad sessions and competing at National Championships. You can find the dates for these on our calendar or the P.U.M.A. Facebook page, or speak to Mr Swain.
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