Alicia Fiandor (L), Dakota Sanzana (C) and Cheyenne Fiandor (R) captured medals at the Elite 8 Judo National Championships in Montreal. All three have trained with coach Eloy Fiandor at the Nanaimo Judo Club. (Judo Canada)

By Dan Marshall

JUDO ELITE

Three Nanaimo Judo Club athletes capture national medals in Montreal

Jan 23, 2020 | 7:07 PM

NANAIMO — Three local athletes brought home medals from the Elite 8 Judo National Championships in Montreal.

Alicia Fiandor took gold in the Senior 63kg division, Cheyenne Fiandor captured silver in the Senior 57kg category and Dakota Sanzana earned bronze in the U18 48kg bracket.

The trio all got their start at the Nanaimo Judo Club under coach Eloy Fiandor.

Alicia, one of Eloy’s daughters, has had to overcome adversity to become a national champion.

“She broke her leg and was out for five months,” coach Fiandor said. “Her first tournament back was in October at the world championships and didn’t medal…but that’s a pretty tough tournament to come back to.”

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Alicia was sidelined for five months with a broken leg and returned to competition in October.

Since the injury, Alicia hit a purple patch of form with silver and bronze medals at the Quebec Open and a gold medal at the Ontario Open.

The oldest of the Fiandor girls, Cheyenne, earned her second consecutive silver medal finish at competitions in eastern Canada.

Her silver at the Elite 8 competition followed a second place finish at the Quebec Open in November.

Eloy said Dakota Sanzana’s U18 bronze medal was made even more impressive because she was competing against athletes several years older than her.

“It’s just fantastic. She’s actually a U16, three years younger than the age category and she managed to pick up a bronze medal in her first time going there,” Eloy said.

The Elite 8 Judo National Championships featured only the top eight ranked athletes in each category, so the medal wins come with a great deal of prestige for the athletes and the Nanaimo Judo Club.

Alicia is a member of Team Canada and trains in Montreal under a heavy two-a-day schedule, six days a week.

For Cheyenne and Dakota, coach Fiandor said they train with him in Nanaimo five to six days a week for two to three hours a night.

The trio of national medalists aren’t the only local athletes who will be in the spotlight.

Sanzana headlines a group of 11 from the Nanaimo Judo Club who will be going to the 2020 Youth Provincials in Kamloops Jan. 31 – Feb. 2.

The other athletes are Joshua Darmadi, Isabella Greene, Conor Blackburn, Clare Boulding, Alewyn Gladstone, John Kruger, Ezekiel Moes, Kipling Szasz, Sayjah Vieaux and Anthony Yang.

With the exception of Sanzana, Darmadi and Greene, the other eight competitors are also competing at the BC Winter Games in Fort St. John Feb. 20-23.

Coach Fiandor said that group are the real up and comers at the club.

“They’re all twelve and thirteen years old right now. Hopefully over the next twelve months if they keep up with the training we’ll have some good results there.”

There are four coaches and about 80-100 athletes currently training at the Nanaimo Judo Club.

One of the coaches, Braxton Clark, has been selected to go to the BC Winter Games as well.

He’ll accompany the local contingent to Fort St. John.

dan.marshall@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @danmarshall77