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Residence London, ENG
Occupation Analyst
Languages English
Higher education Computer Science - King's College London: England
License number 27061997001
Club
When and where did you begin this sport? He began fencing at age 10 while attending Truro School in England, and joined Truro Fencing Club. "Most of my friends were in the intermediate fencing group [at school] as they had begun the term before. Like many kids I just wanted to be with my friends so I really tried hard in the beginner group in the hope I would be moved up into the better one. When that time eventually came I had already fallen in love with the sport and I have continued to fence ever since."
Why this sport? "My mother always told me to try as many activities as possible to really find one I liked. I actually had to ask what fencing was as I had no idea. My mum explained simply enough that it was sword fighting. There aren't many 10-year-olds that doesn't sound exciting to."
Handedness Right
Nicknames Will (Facebook profile, 05 Jul 2018)
Hobbies Paintball, badminton, tennis, video games. (willdeary.co.uk, 15 Jan 2023)
Most influential person in career Coach Chris Buxton. (willdeary.co.uk, 01 Sep 2019)
Hero / Idol British rower Steve Redgrave. (alumni.kcl.ac.uk, 01 Apr 2017)
Sporting philosophy / motto "If it is to be, it is up to me." (britishfencing.com, 01 Jun 2015)
Awards and honours In 2016 he was named Young Athlete of the Year by British Fencing. (sportspromotions.co.uk, 17 Apr 2016; britishfencing.com, 16 Apr 2016)
Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (truroschool.com, 27 May 2021)
Other information OVERSEAS TRAINING
He took a gap year from his computer science degree at King's College London to train with the German national team in Dormagen in an attempt to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and delayed his studies for another year after the Games were postponed. After a spell in England when training was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to Germany in September 2020, but was unable to qualify for the Games. "This experience has been brilliant. Firstly, living in another country not being able to speak the language was something I never thought I would experience. Secondly, I have learnt a lot by training with the Germans, and it has shown me the importance of having a close-knit team environment and how that can lead to success." (truroschool.com, 27 May 2021; willdeary.github.io, 30 May 2020, 23 May 2020; kcl.ac.uk, 20 Sep 2019; willdeary.co.uk, 01 Sep 2019)
DIABETES
He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 16. "It isn't easy living as a diabetic and watching what you have to eat, carb counting everything you eat, dealing with high blood sugar and low blood sugar, along with the various mood swings and general inconvenience. I refused to let diabetes ruin my chances at becoming a good athlete. I was always a hard worker, so now I would just have to work even harder and not let diabetes take over my life." (willdeary.github.io, 23 May 2020; kcl.ac.uk, 20 Sep 2019)
APP RELEASE
With his former coach Chris Buxton he developed two applications, Record of Fitness and BBFit. He taught himself computer programming after moving to London to join British Fencing's World Class programme and later began a computer science degree at King's College London. "My old fencing coach pitched an idea to me on how we could improve physical education and use health and wellbeing to monitor children at schools. That was how we created Record of Fitness. Then during the [COVID-19] lockdown we stripped down Record of Fitness and created a lite version for everyone to use in lockdown, BBFit." (willdeary.github.io, 23 May 2020)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has served as a coach at King's College London Fencing Club in England, and has been a mentor with the True Athlete Project. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Nov 2020; kclfencing.weebly.com, 01 Sep 2017)
OCCUPATION
He works as a graduate analyst for Deutsche Bank in London, England. (LinkedIn profile, 05 Dec 2022)
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