IHFL standings stay tight as Kemp-Cowell and Sworzeniowski share lead

The IHFL table refused to separate its frontrunners, with Connor Kemp-Cowell and Michal Sworzeniowski tied at the top on 20 points and two chasers, Eoin Walker and Nathan Dean, sitting only two behind. In a league built on accumulated results rather than one decisive bracket, that margin kept the championship race alive and made every remaining placement matter.

The shape of the standings showed how little room for error remained. Patryk Klamrowski and Luke O’Keefe followed on 16 points, Oisin Newport and Martin Claffey Healion were on 15, and Tadg Farrell and William Marshal sat on 14. The top of the list was packed tightly enough that a single strong tournament could redraw the title picture, while the rest of the table still had enough depth to keep pressure on the leaders rather than let them disappear.

That tension is baked into the Irish Historical Fencing League’s format. HEMA Ireland has run the IHFL under its banner since 2016, updating results after every tournament and only naming the overall champion after the final fixture. Scores reset to zero at the end of each year, which keeps each season self-contained and forces every contender to build from scratch. The league’s ranking system also rewards consistency across a long campaign: first place earns N points, then N-2 and N-4, with lower places from fourth onward stepping down by N-5 to a minimum of two.

The structure helps explain why the standings remain so compressed. Podium places and fourth are decided by tournament results, while fifth place onward comes from pool performance, so a fencer who keeps collecting solid finishes can stay in the hunt without winning every event. The official ruleset reinforces that competitive discipline, with bouts capped at nine exchanges or three minutes and a 20-point ceiling, while referees can issue warnings or yellow cards for excessive force, dangerous behavior, delaying tactics, or attempts to game lower-value targets.

The Dublin-Cork axis also runs through the league’s broader identity. HEMA Ireland is based at Browningstown Lodge on Ballinlough Road in Cork, while Dublin HEMA Club is one of the oldest clubs in the country and trains in Dublin city centre. Blademasters Academy’s branches in Cork and Limerick underline how the sport’s strongest domestic pipeline feeds the same standings race now led by Kemp-Cowell and Sworzeniowski.

The 2026 table stretches all the way down to a three-way tie on 2 points for Patrick Toher, Froilan Regueiro Noguera and Desmond O’Kelly, a reminder that the league is producing enough activity to keep the leaderboard meaningful from top to bottom. With the front end this tight, the next results could reshuffle the championship picture quickly, and that is exactly the kind of pressure that gives the IHFL its edge.