Solovey leads tight underrepresented-genders longsword ratings race

Anna Solovey held first place on the June underrepresented-genders and women's steel longsword board, but the bigger story was how little room separated the contenders behind her. Solovey finished on 2001.7, with Iris Garcia second at 1977.6 and Isabella Panzera third at 1965.2, leaving the top three split by just 36.5 points and making every late result matter for seeding.

That narrow margin is exactly why the board now reads like a live circuit map rather than a static leaderboard. HEMA Ratings says the category exists in part because some organizers moved away from traditional women’s tournaments and opened events to other underrepresented genders, and the site uses the ratings for tournament seeding and tracking individual progress. In a pool that already records 627 tournaments, 1,951 fighters and 19,927 fights, the June table showed 1,103 fighters on the main island, 41 on four islands, 19 newcomers and 40 fighters who have stayed on islands for as long as they have been active in the category.

Minna Vasarainen provided the clearest sign that the chase pack is still moving. The EHMS fencer climbed three places to fifth at 1910.5, strengthening a top tier that also includes Stevi Parker of Bucks Historical Longsword in fourth at 1946.6. Reya George’s move from 13th to 11th was smaller, but it mattered in a field where one win can still alter a fighter’s path through the next ratings update. The geographic spread at the top remains wide, with clubs from Czechia, Finland, the United States, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Poland all represented among the leading ranks.

The month’s most consequential debut came from Morgan Conway, who entered at 99th with 1515.1 and became the highest-rated newcomer. HEMA Ratings identifies Conway as a United States fighter from Metropolitan Historical Fencing Academy, and the debut matters because it lands well inside the top 100 instead of at the edge of the board. Matylda Schmidt delivered the month’s largest climb, jumping from 962.6 to 1153.5, while Rebekka Günther posted the biggest upset with a win estimated at 7.75 percent odds. Those swings show why the category remains open: the board is deep enough to reward consistency, but still volatile enough for one sharp month to redraw the next ratings cycle.