Fantastic fencer Izzy defies injury to make GB World and European Championship teams

​The 15 year-old member of the Oundle, Peterborough & Stamford Epee Club won her place despite missing a large chunk of the European Cadet Under 17 Championship season because of injury.

It was a very disjointed campaign for Howser who won the British Cadet Championships in September and enjoyed a strong result at the first international meeting in Budapest, Hungary.

Sadly she then picked up a really troublesome wrist ligament injury at the second international event in Austria in October and had to sit out almost three months of the season.

The break saw her ranking and her chances of being selected for the end of year major championships diminish, but she was determined to not let the season be a complete wash-out.

Howser trained hard and returned to action in mid-January when a strong finish at the final selection event in Novi Sad, Serbia, meant she was selected for both the European Cadet Championships in Antalya, Turkey and the World Cadet Championships in Wuxi, China,

She competes in Turkey in individual and team events next week. She travels to China in April.

Her father, and Oundle, Peterborough and Stamford club head coach, Chris Howser said: ”To be selected as one of four fencers for the European Championships and one of three fencers for the World Championships is very impressive considering she was only able to take part in half of the season.

"Isabella still has another year in the Cadet age group and it all happened in the run-up to her GCSEs.”

Howser has also been selected to fence at International Under 23 level, with GB fencers seven years her senior, at the Under 23 European Circuit Event in Lausanne, Switzerland in March.

Athletes have to pay their own way to events, including the European and World Championships so a GoFundMe page 'Help Izzy go to the European and World Cadet Championships' has been set up.

This will also help fund Howser in competitions next season.