A WEST FIFE fencer is aiming to duel with the best of the Commonwealth after fighting her way to national glory.

Kate Daykin, a former member of West Fife Fencing Club (WFFC), was in action at the recently-held BUCS (British Universities and College Sport) Nationals in Sheffield and returned home with a well-earned gold medal.

Now the 21-year-old, who is a student at Heriot-Watt University, has her eye on a trip Down Under to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships, which take place in November.

Held for a sixth year, the BUCS Nationals saw more than 6,000 students descend on South Yorkshire for three days of sport, which included other events like badminton, indoor athletics, judo, karate and long course swimming.

Talented Daykin went into the competition as the top seed but suffered a scare in the semi-finals, where she looked set to crash out against Libby Jones.

But, after fighting back to win 15-14, she advanced to the final of the sabre competition, where she defeated Laura Gladdish by a more comfortable score of 15-5.

Daykin believes that the event will act as ideal preparation for the remainder of her season, which she hopes will include selection for Scotland's Commonwealth squad.

"BUCS is important because it's good preparation for me. In Scotland, there's not a lot of people to compete against, especially in sabre," she explained.

"There's people there I've never seen before, or competed against before, so you get to learn about different styles. It has helped me prepare for some international tournaments coming up.

"The semi-final was quite a tight one. I've fenced her before and it could've gone either way but thankfully I managed to get the hit. It was one of those where you do it automatically and I don't remember how I did it.

"It's great to have won. It was a long day competing but it's always great to come out on top.

"Taking part is good but winning is the best feeling. I didn't have too many expectations coming into the event because it's my first BUCS so I wasn't sure who would be here. I wanted to have a bit of fun and it's great to come out as the winner.

"I'm really hoping to be fencing in the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Canberra. That's my primary aim for the year."

If selected, this year's championships would be the second that Daykin has competed in after she represented her country on home soil four years ago.

She was one of five former WFFC members that helped Scotland to their best-ever medal haul at the event, where they won three gold, three silver and five bronze to place third in the medal table.

That haul included a gold for Daykin, who won the women's team sabre event alongside Jess Corby.

BUCS Nationals, powered by Muhdo, is the largest annual multi-sport event in the UK, bringing the best of Britain’s university athletes together to compete across eight different sports in Sheffield. More information is available at bucs.org.uk and via #BUCSNationals.

The 2018 Commonwealth Fencing Championships will be held between November 10-15.