Miro Lahtela wins 54-fighter longsword at War in the West 2026

Miro Lahtela won the Steel longsword division at War in the West 2026, beating a 54-fighter field in Perth and leaving one of the summer’s biggest HEMA brackets with an EHMS champion on top. Jim Campbell of Ursa Major HEMA Academy finished second, Daniel Arnold of Sword Fighter took third, and Daniel Thomson of Ursa Major HEMA Academy placed fourth, a podium that put Ursa Major fighters in two of the top four slots.

That field size matters. Fifty-four longsword entries is large enough to force real bracket navigation, but still compact enough that every early result can swing seeding, pairing and momentum. Lahtela did not just win an invitational-style cut; he came through a deep Steel division with multiple clubs and regions represented, which is exactly the kind of result that tends to move the needle in rankings and shape the next wave of matchups across the circuit.

The rest of the top end underlined how crowded the bracket was. Geraud lemenager of Aiginskalk - Historical European Martial Arts finished fifth, while Jack Wyrill of Adelaide Sword Academy and Vesselin Petkov of Cairns European Sword Academy shared sixth. Jacinta Critchley of Ursa Major HEMA Academy took eighth and Luke Dornan of Cairns European Sword Academy finished ninth, giving the results sheet a broad Australian spread and showing that the top of the bracket was not owned by one school or one city.

War in the West 2026 was scheduled for May 29-31 in Perth, Western Australia, running from 8:00 a.m. on May 29 to 6:00 p.m. on May 31. The event was billed as five tournaments over three days, with longsword joined by sabre, sword and buckler, rapier and open knockout. That was a step up from a 2023 listing that described War in the West as a three-day event with four tournaments, and it fits the tournament-first identity Ursa Major HEMA Academy has attached to the meet since it says the event began in 2016 and has traditionally run over the last weekend in May.

The result also lands in an event ecosystem that HEMA Ratings tracks in its active database, which makes the Lahtela win more than a local trophy run. When a 54-fencer Steel bracket produces a champion, a runner-up from Ursa Major, a Sword Fighter bronze, and strong finishes from Adelaide and Cairns entries, it becomes the kind of summer result that helps sort out who belongs near the front of the longsword conversation next.