VRI Fencing Club

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VRI Fencing Club

Home of Australian Fencing
Country	Australia
Established	1949
Affiliation	Fencing Victoria Australian Fencing Federation
Rating
Location	141 Burnley Street, Richmond
Pistes	9
Coaches	Gerry Adams Guest Coaches: Sergei Golubitsky Enrico d' Cioli
Olympians	35
Olympiads	1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008
Commonwealth Games	V VI VII VIII IX
Commonwealth Fencing Championships	1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010
v t e

VRI Fencing Club located near the heart of Melbourne at 141 Burnley Street Richmond, Victoria is an Australian fencing club distinguished as being the only club in any Olympic sport to have continuously produced athletes for every Olympiad between 1952 and 2008.

The club was founded a week after the International Olympic Committee awarded Melbourne the 15th Olympiad on 28 April 1949. Formed by employees of the Victorian Railways, VRI Fencing Club was funded, equipped and accommodated under the auspice of the Victorian Railways Institute, an organisation dedicated to providing self-learning, social and sport opportunities for railway employees. In addition to encouraging public participation in the sport of fencing, the club sought to train and develop competitive athletes in three weapons to represent Australia at the Melbourne 1956 Summer Olympics.

The club produced five athletes for the Melbourne Olympiad. Overall it has produced 35 athletes for 15 consecutive Olympiads, including most recently, three athletes for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. VRI Fencing Club produced a representative Australian athlete for every Olympiad since Australia first competed in fencing at Helsinki in 1952 up to Beijing in 2008. Overall the club has produced 48 per cent of Australia's total number of Olympic fencers.