Nick Liefting
Half a century of fencing dedication
If you’ve had anything to do with competitive fencing in New Zealand, chances are you’ll know the name Nick Liefting. For nearly half a century, he has competed in and organised competitions around the country. His lifetime of dedication was recognised recently when he won the Lifetime Legacy Award at the Norwood New Zealand Rural Sports Awards. His impressive record includes being a two-time Silver Pliers winner, four-time Silver Spades winner, fastest singles final (three hours and five minutes), and fastest qualifying heats time (1 hour and 8 minutes). He was first off the line in the singles final 28 times, and made the singles finals 36 times and doubles finals 35 times.
“It wasn’t good practice he was doing for sure... a part of me would probably recommend it because it’s too easy now with post driver. “You’ve still got to do it from time to time, although it’s nowhere near as good as a post driver.” That was around 45 years ago.
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People were training for it – and I probably started that. We had our own training camp. We would actually do the competition fence and then pull it down
“I carried on and got myself a post driver.”
HOW IT ALL STARTED The father of six – four of his own and two foster children – says he found himself in the industry “more by accident than anything else”. He grew up in the Pukekohe area and was working with a local shearer who also was also a fencer. These were the days when there was no post driver and they dug the posts in by hand. It was tough going but great for developing skills, he says.
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ISSUE 61 / JUNE 2021
Liefting family
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