Fencing pools calculator
Paste the entry list and find out what pool you are in before the sheet goes up on the wall. Pool assignments follow the standard method: seeding by ranking, snake distribution, clubmates kept apart.
⚠ Unofficial estimate — the referee desk has the final word.
How fencing pools are made
A pool — poule in the European spelling — is a round-robin group: everyone in it fences everyone else once, and the results decide the seeding for the direct-elimination tableau. The draw itself is not random shuffling. It runs in three steps, and this calculator repeats all three.
- Seeding. Every entry gets a seed number. Ranked fencers take their positions by ranking, best first. Fencers with no ranking go after all the ranked ones and are drawn by lot among themselves. Fencers who share a ranking are drawn by lot too — an equal ranking is settled by chance, not by who registered first.
- Snake distribution. The seeds are dealt across the pools in a zigzag: seed 1 to pool 1, seed 2 to pool 2, and so on to the last pool, then back the other way. Every pool ends up with a comparable spread of strength instead of one pool of favourites.
- Separating clubs and nations. If a fencer lands in a pool that already holds a clubmate, they are moved down the seeding until they reach a pool without one. When that is impossible, the two are placed in positions that make them meet in the first bout of the pool.
How many pools for how many fencers
The pool size you pick is a ceiling, not a target: no pool holds more than that, and the sizes never differ by more than one fencer. At size 7 it works out like this.
| Entries | Pools | Fencers per pool |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 3 pools | 6 · 6 · 6 |
| 24 | 4 pools | 6 · 6 · 6 · 6 |
| 31 | 5 pools | 7 · 6 · 6 · 6 · 6 |
| 42 | 6 pools | 7 · 7 · 7 · 7 · 7 · 7 |
| 49 | 7 pools | 7 · 7 · 7 · 7 · 7 · 7 · 7 |
What this does not replace
This is a prediction, not the official draw. The pool sheet on the wall is made at the venue after check-in — late entries, scratches and the pool size the organiser actually picks all move people around. Treat the result as a good guess about which strip you will start on, not as a fact to argue with the referee desk about.
Questions fencers ask
- What pool am I in?
- Paste the entry list, type your name in the highlight box and press Calculate. Your pool is shown first and your name is marked in every pool sheet on the page.
- How many fencers are in a fencing pool?
- Usually six or seven. The calculator lets you pick 5, 6 or 7 and never puts more than that in a pool: 31 fencers at size 7 become five pools of 7, 6, 6, 6 and 6. Pool sizes never differ by more than one.
- Why do the pools change every time I press Calculate?
- Because part of the draw is genuinely random. Fencers with no ranking are drawn by lot among themselves, and so are fencers who share the same ranking. They are highlighted in yellow and marked LOT — everyone else lands in the same pool on every run.
- Does it keep clubmates apart?
- Yes. A fencer who would land in a pool that already holds someone from the same club or nation is moved down the seeding to the first pool without one. If every pool already has one, they stay put and are placed so the two meet in the first round.
- Is this the official pool assignment?
- No. It is a prediction from the entry list you paste. The real draw is made at the venue after check-in, so late entries, scratches and a different pool size chosen by the organiser will change it. The referee desk has the final word.
- Do I need an account?
- No. The calculator is free, needs no sign-up, and the list you paste stays in your browser.