American Fencing magazine: October 2022

HOLLYWOOD’S first fencing master

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF Jose R. DeCapriles Miguel A. DeCapriles

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Andrews

PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING SALES

Bryan Wendell b.wendell@usafencing.org

EDITOR Serge Timacheff

PRODUCTION/DESIGN

Manna Creations

www.MannaCreations.com

Please send all correspondence and articles for submission to Editor, American Fencing

210 USA Cycling Point, Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO 80919, editor@americanfencing.org.

American Fencing is published quarterly. Please contact the editor regarding submission deadlines and advertising.

American Fencing (ISSN 0002-8436) is published quarterly by the United States Fencing Association, Inc., 210 USA Cycling Point, Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO 80919. Periodicals postage is paid at Colorado Springs, CO 80909-5774, and additional offices.

Subscriptions to American Fencing are included with membership in the association. Individuals can subscribe for $25 in the United States and $37 elsewhere. Postmaster: Send address changes to 210 USA Cycling Point, Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO 80919.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions ex pressed by the authors and contributors of con tent in this magazine are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect any position or policy of USA Fencing. No author or contributor is authorized to speak herein on behalf of USA Fencing or otherwise bind USA Fencing. USA Fencing does not warrant the accuracy of, nor intend reliance upon, any fact or opinions stated herein. The rules and policies of USA Fencing are set forth in, among other things, USA Fencing’s Fencing Rules, Athlete Handbook, Operations Manual, and Bylaws. Nothing herein shall be deemed an amendment or modification of any such rule or policy, nor a binding interpretation thereof.

Cover Photo: by Serge Timacheff

CONTRIBUTORS

DEBBIE AMSBAUGH

is a former national armorer. She was a member of the USFA Membership commit tee and the USFA Parents committee.

JEFF BUKANTZ

author of Rules & Referees, was a member of the FIE Rules Commission and has been captain of multiple U.S. international teams, including the 2006 World Championships Team and the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games Teams.

DR. PEGGY CHIN

is USA Fencing’s Director of Sports Medi cine, and has already served two and a half years as a sports medicine provider to the organization. She experience includes many world cups, the Tokyo Olympics, and work across many types of sports.

DOUG NICHOLS

founded the West Coast Fencing Archive in 2012 with Mark Headley to preserve the his tory of the sport as it happened on the Left Coast. Since then, he has written over 150 fencing stories for his website (westcoast fencingarchive.com), safeguarded dozens of endangered collections and directed two feature documentaries about famous fencing masters, with another in development. His day job has been animated film production for 25 years, and he lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

KAROLYN SZOT

is a former foil fencer at Northwestern Uni versity and current coach at Silverlake Fenc ing. In the Women in Fencing column, Szot weaves-together an inter-view with U.S. refer ee Iana Dakova and the story behind Netflix’s ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ to address the chang ing world of women in refereeing.

JOHN HEIL

is a clinical and sport psychologist who has been affiliated with USA Fencing since 1990 in a variety of roles including National & Olympic Team sport psychology consultant and Chair of Sports Science & Medicine. He is the founding editor of the Sport Science column. Works by Dr. Heil may be found FencingSportPsychology.com and ZenZoneDigital.com.

TED LI

(Tech Talk) is a member of the SEMI Commis sion for both the FIE and USA Fencing. He was the chef de contrôle or head site armourer for three Olympic Games (1984, 1996, 2000). Li has also served as the head armourer at the NCAA National Championships and count less USA Fencing North American Cups. He is a proud student of Joe Byrnes and Dan De Chaine, and has been armouring for more than 30 years.

JENNY PETITE

(Parent’s Corner) is both a fencing mom and veteran epeeist herself, living in Nashville. A former college heptathlete, Petite looks into how to keep your children injury-free in a twopart column.

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN

People elected or appointed to a board of directors act as servant leaders. We work together with our professional staff, committees, partner agen cies and members of the fencing community to establish plans for the future and ensure accountability. Most of my work as board chair can best be described as an air traffic controller as we consider issues that affect us all. I really can’t do anything on my own. People smarter than I am put a structure in place that includes checks on authority and requires approval from the board before any significant steps or actions are taken, largely based on the expertise and dedication of volunteers who serve on a total of 23 committees, resource groups and task forces.

T here are times where leadership becomes especially important. If I never make another decision as board chair, or if the board decides to appoint another person to serve in my place, I am grateful for the opportunity to have helped make decisions that had a significant impact on the lives of everyone touched by USA Fencing. Two decisions stand out in particular:

T he first was essentially mine, but I sought counsel from a wide variety of people within the fencing community and the entire Olympic movement. I hired Jack Gierhart as interim CEO for USA Fencing. The former CEO of USA Sail ing, Jack lived with his family in the Boston area and was one of seven people considered for the role. It quickly became clear that he was best person for the job of interim CEO. Jack spent the last nine months genuinely getting to know the fencing community, supporting our staff and hiring many of the positions lost as a result of COVID-19, making sound business decisions and helping establish new initiatives in fundraising and coaching education and development.

T he second decision involved a lot more people and viewpoints, taking six months to complete and including at least a dozen candidates before the board unanimously named Phil Andrews our permanent CEO. You can read the details of his exceptional qualifications and background on the USA Fencing we bsite and on social media. Phil has already spent his first weeks visiting with clubs of all sizes as well as connecting with hundreds of people throughout the fencing community by phone. Phil is the perfect leader to build on the work done before him. I’m excited and grateful that he will be our CEO through at least Los Angeles 2028.

I hope to have more opportunities to serve – working with so many others to prepare USA Fencing for the future – but I take great comfort in being part of at least these two decisions.

D avid Arias C hair, Board of Directors

DAVID ARIAS

s we move into the 20222023 fencing season, we’ve had a lot of time to reflect. The downtime we’ve all ex perienced in the past few years has changed us both as individu als and as an organization. I’m not just referring to COVID-19 proto cols; I’m also addressing where we as USA Fencing stand as a veritable tour de force in sports.

Fencing is strong, both nationally and internationally. We’re one of the few sports to have endured more than a century of ongoing events and competition as one of the original six Olympic events when the modern Games began in 1896. We have endured war, depression and pandemic and always prevailed. The old adage of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” comes to mind.

W ith the worst part of the pandemic behind us (hopefully!), where are we? Our clubs are thriving, our fencers are eagerly entering domestic and international competitions, our leadership is fresh and strong. We stand as one of the most powerful fencing nations in the world on many levels. Once again, we’ve made it through tribulation together and come out of it with a shiny luster.

T his year’s Summer Nationals and July Challenge, with its 95 events and thousands of participants, was a milestone in this emergence from a very difficult couple of years, and you’ll see that in this issue’s cover story. The largest fencing tournament in the world was, almost by any regard, a perfect event, followed by our strong overall performance at the Cairo Fencing World Championships.

O ur new leaders and staff at the National Office are bringing innovation, perspective and objectivity to fencing in a manner promising to take us to that next proverbial level. They are here to serve our members, grow and extend the fencing brand identity and leverage our strength domestically and globally.

N ow it’s time to really get to work. With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games two short years away, there’s a lot to do to in training, competition and the development of role models as our younger fencers move up. We have rising stars with the promise of many years, medals and events, and their performances and images are an inspirational beacon to us all.

AParis 2024 continues the Olympic trend to bring in new sports and evalu ate existing ones. There will be the emerging events we saw in Tokyo last year, such as surfing and skateboarding, as well as first-time competi tions such as break dancing (officially known as “breaking”). How do we stay innovative, relevant and exciting to world audiences amidst these newcomers?

For fencing, it begins at the club level. It starts by helping kids get excited about fencing, understanding its history while embracing its future and the sheer excitement of being involved. Fencing as a lifetime sport, as well, extends our reach far beyond many sports — you’re not likely to see a Vet 70 event in skateboarding or breaking any time soon. Our national office is here to support you and your clubs, to do anything in its power to help reach out to communities, welcome newcomers and provide the resources needed to build fencing at all levels.

We have an exciting year ahead with many local, regional, national and world events. We’re strong, well-staffed and able to listen and respond. Our new CEO, Phil Andrews, is in place to lead with our board and na tional staff from a crisp, new perspective as they help us evolve into the future, and I hope you’ll join me supporting his success.

It’s going to be an exciting couple of years. We’ve got traction, we have momentum, we have everything we need to perform as never before. Let’s make it happen!

Serge Timacheff Editor, American Fencing Magazine

THE 2022 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge, the globe’s largest fencing tournament of the year, saw thousands of fencers, family mem bers and fans flock to the Twin Cities.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Judge Vic Bianchini (Spartak / Golden Sabre Academy) was just 72 years young when his daughter’s fencing coach approached him with an observation.

“Hey, you look like you could fence,” the coach told Bianchini, who hadn’t yet tried his hand at the sport.

“And I said, ‘really?’ And he said, ‘yes,’” Bianchini remembers. “And I started with a coach and had immediate success. And it just kept me coming back.”

Twelve years and nine world championships later, Bianchini is still coming back to the strip. And at the 2022 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge in Minneapolis, he walked away with another gold medal and national title — this time in Vet-80 men’s saber.

Did it matter that, at 84, Bianchini was the tourna ment’s oldest fencer? Not a bit.

“First of all, I love fencing. It’s been such a gift to me,” he says. “And I keep doing it because it’s it’s good physical exercise and I succeeded in it. You know what they say about golf: It’s that great ball that you hit straight down the fairway that keeps you coming back? Well, that’s what fencing is like for me.”

DIV

NATALIE

GEBALA

TEXT BY BRYAN WENDELL | PHOTOS BY SERGE TIMACHEFF

The tournament, held from July 2 to 11, welcomed fencers as young as 7 and as old as 84 to the Minneapolis Convention Cen ter. The event was so large that it took up three giant halls in the spacious venue.

A total of 81 fencing strips were used for the 95 different events, including 66 events whose winners were crowned national cham pions.

Near the other end of the age range from Bianchini was fellow saber fencer Devyn Anthony (Cobra Fencing Club LLC / Peter Westbrook Foundation). Anthony, who is 12, displayed confidence beyond his eyars on his way to the Y-12 men’s saber national championship and a gold medal.

“I just felt good,” he said shortly after a victory in the finals. “I told my parents this morning, I’m going to go for the gold.”

Up 14-4 in his final bout, Anthony might have been tempted to try something fancy — to alter his game to get that 15th point. But he avoided the temptation.

“You have to finish them out,” Anthony says. “I’ve always seen comebacks in all different sports — fencing, basketball, races. You don’t want to get too cocky because the person could come back. A lot of fencers try to do fancy move ments. I try to finish.”

The tournament’s first title went to Alexa Drovetsky (Medeo Fencing Club), who earned gold in Division IA women’s epee.

To make it through a full day of consis tently tough bouts, Drovetsky tried to be patient while still taking calculated risks.

“I did a lot of foot touches today, which is something I usually like to do, but it’s always a very risky action,” she says. “And I feel like I was being very patient today when normally I like to attack. I definitely had some composure.”

Like any tournament, Drovetsky’s day had some ups and downs. That made it essential to have the support of her teammates and friends.

“My friends and my support system just kept me hyped up after every bout,” she says. “I had a huge posse with me, following me. My club is such like a nice environment where everyone’s going to stay and watch you and after every bout. They’ll cheer and clap and hype you up. And that’s what gets me through.”

SPECIAL VISITORS DUEL ON THE SUMMER NATIONALS FINALS STRIP.

DIV I MEN’S FOIL - BRANDON LI VS. J JONAS WINTERBERG-POULSEN (DEN)

JR. WOMEN’S FOIL -- KAT ERINA LUNG VS. CAROLINA J. STUTCHBURY (GBR)

ALL THE MEDALISTS FROM THE 2022 SUMMER NATIONALS

DIVISION I

DIVISION I MEN’S EPEE

•Gold: Nicholas Z. Zhang (Canada)

•Silver: Miles J. Weiss (Alliance Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Sean White (Fencers Club Inc.)

•Bronze: Nicholas Candela (Battle Born Fencing Club)

5. Sergei Kudriavtcev (Alliance Fencing Academy)

6. Noah E. Silvers (Windy City Fencing-Chicago)

7. Henry C. Lange (The Ohio State University/Northwest Fencing Center)

8. Nicholas W. Lawson (Fencers Club Inc./Princeton University)

DIVISION I WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold: Faith K. Park (DC Fencers Club)

•Silver: Kasia Nixon (Peter Westbrook Foundation / Fencers Club Inc.)

•Bronze: Margherita A. Vincenti Guzzi (Ataba Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Hadley N. Husisia n (Fencers Club Inc./Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

5. Ketki Ketkar (Kaizen Academy LLC)

6. Courtney L. Hurley (New York Athletic Club/Alliance Fencing Academy)

7. Michaela Joyce (Elite Fencing Academy (VA)/Cardinal Fencing Academy)

8. Kelley A. Hurley (New York Athletic Club/Alliance Fencing Academy)

DIVISION I MEN’S FOIL

•Gold: Brandon H. Li (Marx Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Jonas Winterberg-Poulsen (Denmark)

•Bronze: Samarth Kumbla (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Adam Mathieu (Fencers Club Inc.)

5. Allen Chen (Bluegrass Fencers’ Club)

6. Joon K. Paik (Fencers Club Inc. / Columbia University)

7. Augusto Servello (Moe Fencing Club LLC)

8. Farr R. Dickson (Space City Fencing Academy)

DIVISION I WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold: Maia M. Weintraub (Fencers Club Inc./Fencing Academy of Philadelphia/Princeton)

•Silver: Nicole Pustilnik (Notre Dame)

•Bronze: Stefani K. Deschner (Bluegrass Fencers’ Club)

•Bronze: Zander Rhodes (V Fencing Club/Le Club Touche)

5. Lauren S. Scrugg s (Peter Westbrook Foundation/Fencers Club Inc.)

6. Sabrina N. Cho (University of Pennsylvania/Golden State Fencing Academy)

7. Emily Jing (Star Fencing Academy)

8. Iman A. Blow (Peter Westbrook Foundation)

DIVISION I MEN’S SABER

•Gold: William Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center/Fencers Club Inc.)

•Silver: Elden S. Wood (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Kamar A. Skeete (Manhattan Fencing Center/Nellya Fencers)

•Bronze: Neil Lilov (Lilov Fencing Academy)

5. Dalton F. Walker (Cobra Fencing Club LLC/Fencers Club Inc.)

6. Ilia Andreev (Nellya Fencers)

7. Lev C. Benavram (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation/National Capital Fencers Club)

8. Gabriel K. Armijo (Peter Westbrook Foundation)

VET-40 MEN’S EPEE - NOAH L. ZUCKER

BOTTOM: DIV I WOMEN’S SABER - MAGDA SKAR BONKIEWICZ

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DIVISION I WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold: Magda Skarbonkiewicz (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

•Silver: Lola P. Possick (Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy)

•Bronze: Kara E. Linder (University of Notre Dame)

•Bronze: Elizabeth Tartakovsky (Manhattan Fencing Center/Harvard University)

5. Francesca Russo (Bergen Fencing Club)

6. Siobhan R. Sullivan (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

7. Maia C. Chamberlain (Manhattan Fencing Center/Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy)

8. Atara R. Greenbaum (University of Notre Dame/Alle Fencing Club)

DIVISION IA

DIVISION IA MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Owen Jin (Cavalier Fencing Club)

•Silver: Brayden H. Gyure (International Fencers Alliance of Dallas)

•Bronze: Maximilian A. Shah (Olympia Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Tyler H. Cho (Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

5. Ajit Sivakumar (Cardinal Fencing Academy)

6. Ziad N. Khayat (Central California)

7. Ethan C. Insler (Rhode Island Fencing Academy and Club)

8. George K. Fuller (Fencers Club Inc. / New Mexico Fencing Foundation)

DIVISION IA WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Alexandra M. Drovetsky (Medeo Fencing Club)

•Silver: Natalie Brooke A. Gebala (Academy of Fencing Masters)

•Bronze: Karen Bei (Team Touche Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Audrey Chu (Columbia University)

5. Alexandra Feland (Academy of Fencing Masters)

6. Priscilla Y. Leang (Academy of Fencing Masters)

7. Amy Mao (Medeo Fencing Club)

8. Mia Smotritsky (New York Fencing Academy)

DIVISION IA MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Ethan I. Gassner (Golden State Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Castor T. Kao (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Alexander Wu (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Lucas H. Zeng (Maximum Fencing Club)

5. Bryce C. Mcclain (Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club)

6. Aidan Lee (Fencing Sports Academy Inc. / Invicta Sports)

7. Charles Bing (Star Fencing Academy)

8. Phillip W. Nunnink (Heartland Fencing Academy)

DIVISION IA WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Ishani S. Sood (California Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Katherine Kim (Golubitsky Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Jaelyn A. Liu (Fencing Institute of Texas / Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: La Cruz Eden De (Orange County Fencing Center)

5. Anna Biasco (Northwestern University / RedStar Fencing Club Chicago)

6. Naomi E. Miller (Marx Fencing Academy)

7. Claire Teresa Galavotti (The Ohio State University / RedStar Fencing Club Chicago)

8. Rachel Y. Li (Star Fencing Academy)

DIVISION IA MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Leonid Kotov (Phoenix Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Mengke Wu (Laguna Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Kelly Liu (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Bronze:Jackson Houtz (Fencing Academy of Denver)

5. Maxwell H. Greenbaum (Nellya Fencers)

6. Oliver Berger (LA International Fencing/Southern California Fencing Academy)

7. Ziyi Yang (Cardinal Fencing Club/Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

8. Tony V. Escueta (Boston Fencing Club/Globus Fencing Academy)

DIVISION IA WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Victoria M. Gorman (Zeta Fencing)

•Silver: Irene Jung (Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

•Bronze: Zara A. Fearns (Halberstadt Fencers’ Club)

•Bronze: Megumi Oishi (PDX Fencing)

5. Charlotte S. Scalamoni-Goldstein (Advance Fencing And Fitness Academy)

6. Victoria J. Li (Globus Fencing Academy / The Hockaday School)

7. Nisha Hild (Zeta Fencing)

8. Nevaeh L. Ulibarri (Phoenix Fencing Academy)

DIVISION II

DIVISION II MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Tyler Lowe-Thorpe (Golden Gate Fencing Center)

•Silver:Alexei Novojilov (Medeo Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Hayden Trebon (Premier Fencing Alliance)

•Bronze: Braeden Langenderfer (Central Florida)

5. Elijah S. Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy)

6. Daniel Chirashnya (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

7. Tristan Wang (Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

8. Alexander Ulinich (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

DIVISION II WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Charlotte Canning (Rhode Island Fencing Academy and Club)

•Silver: Emily You (Guanyi Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Phoebe C. Chisholm (Olympia Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Sofia I. Stoeckel (Twin Cities Fencing Club)

5. Daria A. Smuk (Rhode Island Fencing Academy and Club)

6. Angela Song (Cavalier Fencing Club)

7. Olivia Weiss (Western Pennsylvania Division)

8. Isabel B. You (Arena Fencing Academy LLC)

TOP: DIV III WOMEN’S EPEE - GRACE HICKS

SECOND: JR. MEN’S FOIL - ANDREW CHEN

THIRD: VET 50 WOMEN’S FOIL

DIVISION II MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Matthew Li (AIC Fencing Club)

•Silver: Willem Joseph (Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club / East Coast Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Ryan Y. Kim (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Joshua J. Shin (Rhode Island Fencing Academy And Club)

5. Derek A. Kim (Golubitsky Fencing Center)

6. Kazu Z. Honda (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

7. Owen G. Traugot (Manhattan Fencing Center)

8. Matthew D. Mejia (Space City Fencing Academy)

DIVISION II WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Anice Orvananos (Fencers Club Inc.)

•Silver: Yukari Takamizawa (Golden State Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Aileen Mi (Rochester Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Konnie Duan (Elite Fencing Club)

5. Vera Fung (Bay Area Fencing Club)

6. Crystal Han (Rain City Fencing Center)

7. Emily Michaelsen (Pittsburgh Fencers Club)

8. Annabelle Chow (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

DIVISION II MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Zachary Tong (Nellya Fencers)

•Silver: Andrew Deng (Integrity Fencing Studio)

•Bronze: Ansh Ghayalod (Durkan Fencing Academy / Avant Garde Fencers Club Inc (CA) (AGFC))

•Bronze: Silas Choi (Globus Fencing Academy)

5. Miles Zhou (Delaware Valley Fencers Club-PA)

6. Malik Resheidat (IndySabre)

7. Richard Ren (Globus Fencing Academy)

8. Vasil V. Atanassov (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

DIVISION II WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Nitika Subramanian (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Silver: Aamina Dhar (Philadelphia)

•Bronze: Kathryn G. Kynett (Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

•Bronze: Catelyn So (Scarsdale Fencing Center / Fencers Club Inc.)

5. Ella Springer (Durkan Fencing Academy)

6. Alejandra E. Ferreira (Globus Fencing Academy)

7. Natalie Tsui (Manhattan Fencing Center)

8. Sophia Luker (Lone Star Fencing Center)

LEFT: DIV II WOMEN’S SABER -- NITIKA SUBRAMANIAN VS. AAMINA DHAR BOTTOM: VET 70 WOMEN’S FOIL -- JUDITH A. OFFERLE

DIVISION III

DIVISION III MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Daniel Chirashnya (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

•Silver: Andrii Uvarov (Gryphon Fencing / San Diego Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Joshua Hutto (Olympic Fencers Club)

•Bronze: Andrew J. Kim (Rain City Fencing Center)

5. James E. Burgess (Heartland Fencing Academy)

6. Braeden Langenderfer (Central Florida)

7. Prange Patrick Knecht (Grand Rapids Fencing Academy)

8. Alexander Dao (Battle Born Fencing Club)

DIVISION III WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Grace Hicks (New York Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Olivia Lee (Swords Fencing Studio)

•Bronze: Kaitlyn M. Lee (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

•Bronze: Alicen Spurlin (Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

5. Anusha Kumar (Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

6. Lucy J. Bybee (Elite Fencing Academy (GA) / Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

7. Noya Chirashnya (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

8. Karen Chiem (Golden Gate Fencing Center)

DIVISION III MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Jackson Kim (Metro Tacoma Fencing Club)

•Silver: Matthew D. Mejia (Space City Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Julian Detering (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Aidan A. Miller (Vivo Fencing Club)

5. Ethan Wang (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

6. Albert Tang (OnTarget Fencing Club)

7. Gabriel Park (Golubitsky Fencing Center)

8. Grant D. Smith (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

DIVISION III WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Yukari Takamizawa (Golden State Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Eunice Zhang (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Crystal Han (Rain City Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Molly Kettelle (Massialas Foundation (M Team) / Still Point Fencing)

5. Rebecca Hsieh (AIC Fencing Club)

6. Mahala Lambert (Northwest Fencing Center)

7. Sophia Liu (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

8. Keira Castaneda (Rain City Fencing Center / Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

DIVISION III MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Steven Hong (Sigma Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Justin Miclaus (Advance Fencing And Fitness Academy)

•Bronze: Krish Kilari (Fencing Academy Of Denver)

•Bronze: Justin Glozman (Delaware Valley Fencers Club-PA)

5. Aaron Kasper (Zeta Fencing)

6. Tai A. Flot (Cobra Fencing Club LLC)

7. Noah R. Goldman (Zeta Fencing)

8. Alexander Pi (PDX Fencing)

DIVISION III WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Siwen Liao (Miracle Fencing Club / Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

•Silver: Jayna M. Davis (High Desert Fencing Alliance)

•Bronze: Haojiao Xiong (The Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Eve Scott (Capital Fencing Academy)

5. Jaslene Lim (PDX Fencing)

6. Brooke Deng (Sigma Fencing Academy)

7. Ella Nguyen (Manhattan Fencing Center)

8. Sadhika Mulagari (The Fencing Center)

SENIOR TEAM

SENIOR MEN’S EPEE — TEAM

•Gold: Dynamo Fencing (Dylan French, Eli Lippman, Avery S. Townsend and Nicholas Z. Zhang)

•Silver: 6 Foot Plus (Jesse Li, Daniil Mazur, S Ayush Shah and Kon stantin Vaysbukh)

•Bronze: PENTA (Gary S. North, Kozmo Rhyu, Christopher Chong and Ian C. Park)

SENIOR WOMEN’S EPEE — TEAM

•Gold: Persuasian (Ashley Luo, Kira Nguyen, Faith K. Park and Alex andra R. Wong)

•Silver: San Diego Zoo (Karen Bei, Chloe K. Lavery, Christina Watrall and Renee A. Zuhars)

•Bronze: AFMily <3 (1) (Audrey Chu, Natalie Brooke A. Gebala, Pris cilla Y. Leang and Leehi Machulsky)

SENIOR MEN’S FOIL — TEAM

•Gold: Golden State Fencing Academy (Arwen Borowiak, Ziyuan Chen, Kian Dierks and Ethan I. Gassner)

•Silver: Counterattacks Only (Richard W. Lin, Ethan J. Xiao, Enoch A. Xiao and Andy W. Zhang)

•Bronze: Space City (Farr R. Dickson, John O. Griffin, Ahmed Roso wsky and Lukas Tsao)

SENIOR WOMEN’S FOIL — TEAM

•Gold: New Jersey Fencing Alliance (Katherine Apelian, Jacqueline Dubrovich, Allie Lee and Sara Taffel)

•Silver: Baby Irish (Jojo Conway, Nicole Pustilnik, Daena Talavera and Sophie L. Zhao)

•Bronze: Just Fence (Kimberley Jang, Lucy Liao, Anice Orvananos and Lauren S. Scruggs)

SENIOR MEN’S SABER — TEAM

•Gold: Reptilian Club Boyz (Jaden P. Callahan, Elian R. Freyre de Andrade, Justin R. Haddad and Jackson R. Mcbride)

•Silver: Nazlymov Fencing (Lev C. Benavram, Andrei Nazlymov, Connor Woodward and Dylan P. Woodward)

•Bronze: Blundering Fools (Gabriel A. Babayev, Vincent Q. Hong, Ryan Kim-Cogan and Colin Noble)

SENIOR WOMEN’S SABER — TEAM

•Gold: Phoenix Fencing Academy (Eleksi M. Bolton, Gabriela M. Hwang, Regina Pedraza and Nevaeh L. Ulibarri)

•Silver: Team PDX (Megumi Oishi, Hana Sadik, Alyssa Sun and Joy Yun)

•Bronze: Boston Fencing Club (Leah I. Blum, Nina R. Sayles, Mag gie Shealy and Maria A. Theodore)

JUNIOR

JUNIOR MEN’S EPEE

•Gold: Samuel A. Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Joseph Wu (Cavalier Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Luka E. Loncar (Olympia Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Henry A. Lawson (Fencers Club Inc.)

5. Nowell L. Gibson (New York Fencing Academy)

6. Ethan Kushnerik (New York Athletic Club/New York Fencing Acad emy)

7. Alexander Liu (Alliance Fencing Academy)

8. Geoffrey B. Yao (True Focus Sports Academy)

JUNIOR WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold: Isabella Chin (New York Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Ruien Xiao (Canada)

•Bronze: Jessica Y. Lin (Medeo Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Grace Hu (Canada)

5. (tie): Hadley N. Husisian (Fencers Club Inc./Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

5. (tie): Sarah Gu (Medeo Fencing Club)

7. Kyle R. Fallon (Fencing Academy of Westchester)

8. Michelle J. Lee (Alliance Fencing Academy)

JUNIOR MEN’S FOIL

•Gold: Andrew Chen (Bluegrass Fencers’ Club)

•Silver: Mitchell Huth (Apex Fencing Academy/Jovanovic Fencing)

•Bronze: Samarth Kumbla (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Allen Chen (Bluegrass Fencers’ Club)

5. Daniel D. Zhang (Star Fencing Academy)

6. Julian Goor (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

7. Brandon H. Li (Marx Fencing Academy)

8. Brandon J. Kim (LA International Fencing)

JUNIOR WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold: Carolina J. Stutchbury (Epic Fencing Club/SCAD- Atlanta Fencing)

•Silver: Katerina Lung (Moe Fencing Club LLC)

•Bronze: Yunjia Zhang (Canada)

•Bronze: Ryanne T. Leslie (V Fencing Club/PISTE Fencing Academy)

5. Sabrina Fang (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester))

6. Alina Lee (Massialas Foundation (M Team)/The Ohio State University)

7. Renata M. Chusid (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy/Cornell University)

8. Rowan M. Park (Northwestern University/LA International Fencing)

JUNIOR MEN’S SABER

•Gold: Colby A. Harley (Nellya Fencers)

•Silver: Jordan H. Silberzweig (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Nolan E. Williams (The Ohio State University/Peter West brook Foundation)

•Bronze: Matthew Linsky (Manhattan Fencing Center)

5. Elden S. Wood (Manhattan Fencing Center)

6. William Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center/Fencers Club Inc.)

7. Nicholas J. Harvey (Nellya Fencers)

8. Joshua H. Lo (Boston Fencing Club)

JUNIOR WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold: Siobhan R. Sullivan (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

•Silver: Kaitlyn Pak (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Magda Skarbonkiewicz (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

•Bronze:Vivian Y. Lu (University of Pennsylvania/Oregon Fencing Alli ance)

5. Lola P. Possick (Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy)

6. Sophie Liu (Capital Fencing Academy)

7. Zoe Kim (Nellya Fencers)

8. Madeline A. Engelman-Sanz (Bergen Fencing Club)

CADET

CADET MEN’S EPEE

•Gold: Alexander Bezrodnov (Medeo Fencing Club)

•Silver: Luka E. Loncar (Olympia Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Christopher Chong (Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Nicholas Jin (Fortune Fencing)

5. Shwan Lee (Elite Fencing Academy (VA) / Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

6. Ryan S. Jeyoon (Elite Fencing Academy (VA) / Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

7. Ankith Prasad (Alliance Fencing Academy)

8. Ethan Boroditsky (Medeo Fencing Club)

CADET WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold: Leehi Machulsky (Academy Of Fencing Masters (AFM))

•Silver: Sarah Gu (Medeo Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Kyle R. Fallon (Fencing Academy Of Westchester)

•Bronze: Sophia N. Jakel (DC Fencers Club)

5. Ruien Xiao (Canada)

6. Yasmine A. Khamis (Alliance Fencing Academy)

7. Anousheh Reid (Medeo Fencing Club)

8. Julia Yin (Canada)

CADET MEN’S FOIL

•Gold: Liam Bas (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Jayden C. Hooshi (East Coast Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Richard Li (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Castor T. Kao (Star Fencing Academy)

5. Yonjae Kim (Top Fencing Club)

6. Luao Yang (Renaissance Fencing Club)

7. Jia Le Sean Ho (AIC Fencing Club)

8. Jacob J Lee (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

CADET WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold: Katerina Lung (Moe Fencing Club LLC)

•Silver: Emily Jing (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Victoria Pevzner (V Fencing Club / LE CLUB TOUCHE)

•Bronze: Yukari Takamizawa (Golden State Fencing Academy)

5. Yunjia Zhang (Canada)

6. Mikayla Chusid (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

7. Jia P. Chen (V Fencing Club / LE CLUB TOUCHE)

8. Lydia Shen (Star Fencing Academy)

CADET MEN’S SABER

•Gold: Cody Walter Ji (Nellya Fencers)

•Silver: Silas Choi (Globus Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Lev Ermakov (Fencing Academy Of Denver)

•Bronze: Charles Wang (Platinum Fencing Academy)

5. Samuel Zubatiy (Spartak)

6. Vasil V. Atanassov (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

7. Jason I. Bae (Boston Fencing Club)

8. Andrew Xu (PDX Fencing)

CADET WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold: Janna N. Freedman (South Bay Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Veronica Mika (Advance Fencing And Fitness Academy)

•Bronze: Jenna Shoman (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Kira R. Erikson (South Bay Fencing Academy)

5. Aria F. Bevacqua (Manhattan Fencing Center)

6. Grace Ker (Cardinal Fencing Club / Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

7. Madison Duckett (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)

8. Sadhika Mulagari (The Fencing Center)

Y-10

Y-10 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Sangwook Park (LE CLUB TOUCHE)

•Silver: Kenneth Huang (Fencing Center of Chicago)

•Bronze: Neel Mehrotra (Fencing Institute ofTexas)

•Bronze: Shawn Zhou (Orange County Fencing Center / Team Tou che Fencing Center)

5. Chengwen Dai (Battle Born Fencing Club)

6. Ryan Midyany (New York Fencing Academy)

7. Alexander Moore (Nashville Elite Fencing Club / Nashville Academy of Fencing)

8. James Boudreaux (Elite Fencing Academy (VA) / Elite Fencing Acad emy (GA))

Y-10 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Navya Neelam (Elite Fencing Acad emy (GA) / Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

•Silver: Sama Abuelfutuh (Kaizen Academy LLC)

•Bronze: Gloria Lee (Elite Fencing Academy (VA) / Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

•Bronze: Katerina Borotko (Medeo Fencing Club)

5. Jessica Xu (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

6. Sophia Habek (East Bay Fencers Gym)

7. Avital Tismensky (Windy City Fencing-Chicago)

8. Julieanne Qi (Guanyi Fencing Academy)

Y-10 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Francesco Fedeli (Epic Fencing Club

/ SCAD- Atlanta Fencing)

•Silver: Charles Yang (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Bradley Li (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Kai Toomre (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester) / Fencers School Of Connecticut)

5. Mason Bieler (Elite Fencing Club / United Fencing Academy)

6. Eric Jonathan Chang (Golubitsky Fencing Center)

7. Hanson Chen (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

8. Gaven Hou (Star Fencing Academy)

Y-10 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Chloe Sun (Orange County Fencing Center)

•Silver: Aphrodite Tsimiklis (5T Fencers Club)

•Bronze: Ella Zou (Team Touche Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Enjia Sherry Liu

5. Grace Feng (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester))

6. Julia Harris (V Fencing Club)

7. Miranda Luo (Golden State Fencing Academy)

8. Sophie Duan (Team Touche Fencing Center)

Y-10 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Tino Tani (Southern California Fencing Academy (SOCALFA) / West Coast Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Victor Liu (Sigma Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Marcel T. Ursu (Cobra Fencing Club LLC)

•Bronze: Howard Li (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)

5. Phillip Yang (South Bay Fencing Academy)

6. Trey Brimmer (Las Vegas Fencing Academy)

7. Bowen Yu (Lone Star Fencing Center)

8. Evan Bai (Platinum Fencing Academy)

Y-10 WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Zitong (Meya) Lei (Laguna Fencing Center)

•Silver: Anne Cong (Halberstadt Fencers’ Club)

•Bronze: Veronika Gonzalez (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Joy Gong (International Fencing Club)

5. Ellie Kang (Halberstadt Fencers’ Club)

6. Alexandria Fan (Miracle Fencing Club)

7. Rei Nemorin (Cobra Fencing Club LLC)

8. Tara Kaul (Nellya Fencers) Y-12

SECOND RIGHT:

THIRD RIGHT: GREG MASSIALAS

ABOVE: DIV IA MEN’S EPEE -- OWEN JIN VS. BRAYDEN H. GYURE

TOP RIGHT: DIV I MEN’S SABER

70 MEN’S SABER

Y-12 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Christopher Davoodian (Swords Fencing Studio)

•Silver: David Dodin (New York Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Andy Zheng (Guanyi Fencing Academy / Twin Cities Fencing Club)

•Bronze: A.J. Trull (Ocean State Fencing Club)

5. Tudor Hamza (Kaizen Academy LLC)

6. Zhengyang Chen (Swords Fencing Studio)

7. Ravin Singh (Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

8. Jayden Kim (Battle Born Fencing Club)

Y-12 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Regina Lee (Swords Fencing Studio)

•Silver: Alexandra S. Smuk (Rhode Island Fencing Academy And Club)

•Bronze: Anda Wattanakit (Advance Fencing Academy (Salle Stepien))

•Bronze: Chloe (Cj) Tolsma (Alliance Fencing Academy)

5. Natalya Cafasso (Olympia Fencing Center)

6. Avni Shiv (Alliance Fencing Academy)

7. Ava Beaver (Rain City Fencing Center / Kaizen Academy LLC)

8. Jessie Wang (True Focus Sports Academy / Davis Fencing Academy)

Y-12 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Luca Nicoletti (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Silver: Aden A. Soto-Ulev (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

•Bronze: Derek Liu (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Aaron Li (Marx Fencing Academy)

5. Aris Kiayias (Massialas Foundation (M Team) / Fencers Club Inc.)

6. Diego Fukuda (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

7. Brenden Morrow (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

8. Brendan Lee (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester))

Y-12 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Sara Amr Hossny (South Brooklyn Fencing)

•Silver: Caterina S. Fedeli (Epic Fencing Club / SCAD- Atlanta Fencing)

•Bronze: Rachel Kim (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Ella Calise (Fencing Academy Of Westchester / Tim More house Fencing Club (Port Chester))

5. Ava Mcsherry (Fencers Club Inc. / Peter Westbrook Foundation)

6. Viviene E. Goor (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

7. Renee Chen (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

8. Iris Yang (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester))

Y-12 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Devyn V. Anthony (Cobra Fencing Club

LLC / Peter Westbrook Foundation)

•Silver: Luke Vaid (Nellya Fencers)

•Bronze: Evan Kang (Dynamo Fencing Center Inc.)

•Bronze: Semeon Ermakov (Fencing Academy of Denver)

5. Nicholas Mehan (Stamford Fencing Center LLC)

6. Jeein Joo (South Bay Fencing Academy)

7. Nathan Munguia (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)

8. Lucas Holz (Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

Y-12 WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Xuanyi Zhang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)

•Silver: Isabel Schmidt (Halberstadt Fencers’ Club)

•Bronze: Sahana Gautam (The Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Valentina Chiarelli (Manhattan Fencing Center)

5. Delilah Huai (Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

6. Martina Fernandez (Nellya Fencers)

7. Sarah Zeng (Bergen Fencing Club / Forward Fencing Academy)

8. Jolene Chan (South Bay Fencing Academy)

Y-14

Y-14 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Seungwon (Stewart) Lee (Alliance Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Reid Kokenge (Medeo Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Corey Zhao (Olympia Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Nathaniel P. Wimmer (Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

5. Hayden Trebon (Premier Fencing Alliance)

6. Kyran Lin (Fortune Fencing)

7. Biaya K. Tiya (Atlanta Fencers Club Foundation Inc. / Lotus Fencing Academy)

8. Jackson D. Richards (NMFC/Duke City Fencing / Fencing Academy of Denver)

Y-14 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Jolie Korfonta (Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

•Silver: Melinda Yao (Alliance Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Alexandra Rakhovski (New York Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Sierra Springer (Olympia Fencing Center)

5. Ge Feng (Cavalier Fencing Club)

6. Elizabeth Zigalo (New York Fencing Academy)

7. Victoria R. Zhang (Alliance Fencing Academy)

8. Teresa Randleman (Arena Fencing Academy LLC)

Y-14 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Luao Yang (Renaissance Fencing Club)

•Silver: Cristiano P. Coelho (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

•Bronze: Richard Li (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Eric Li (Star Fencing Academy)

5. Aditya Jain

6. Alexander Wu (Star Fencing Academy)

7. Conrad Lo (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

8. Akhil Lewis (Top Fencing Club)

Y-14 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Adeline Senic (Renaissance Fencing Club)

•Silver: Hossny Sara Amr (South Brooklyn Fencing)

•Bronze: Kaitlyn N. Tan (Star Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Gabrielle Grace A. Gebala (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

5. Allison V. Chen (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

6. Ruoxi Sun (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

7. Hailey M. Eyer (Manchen Academy of Fencing)

8. Ella Calise (Fencing Academy of Westchester / Tim Morehouse Fenc ing Club (Port Chester))

Y-14 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Nazir Primus (Peter Westbrook Foun dation / Fencers Club Inc.)

•Silver: Oliver Sturn (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

•Bronze: Emilio A. Gonzalez (Scarsdale Fencing Center / Fencers Club Inc.)

•Bronze: Shaun M. Kim (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)

5. Silas Choi (Globus Fencing Academy)

6. Daniel Holz (Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

7. Heonjun Cheong (Texas Sabre Academy / Texas International Fenc ing Center)

8. Oleksandr Shirpal (Dynamo Fencing Center Inc.)

VET-40

VET-40 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Noah L. Zucker (Cobra Fencing Club LLC)

•Silver: Yasser M. Eldarawani (Kaizen Academy LLC)

•Bronze: Jonathan R. Bartlett (New York Athletic Club)

•Bronze: Keith H. Lichten (East Bay Fencers Gym)

5th: Vadim Makmatov (Salle Auriol Seattle)

6th: Thomas Cheng (Stoccata Fencing Academy & Club / Penta Olym pic Fencing Club)

7th: Scott E. Rostal (Twin Cities Fencing Club)

8th: Adam W. Maczik (Marx Fencing Academy)

Y-14 WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Sophia I. Schiminovich (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

•Silver: Minna Krastev (Cardinal Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Grace Ker (Cardinal Fencing Club / Premier Fencing Acad emy LLC)

•Bronze: Aria F. Bevacqua (Manhattan Fencing Center)

5. Charmaine G. Andres (Southern California Fencing Academy (SO CALFA))

6. Olympia C. Christothoulou (Laguna Fencing Center / LA Interna tional Fencing)

7. Gabriela M. Hwang (Phoenix Fencing Academy)

8. Haojiao Xiong (The Fencing Center)

VET-40 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Nicole P. Polanichka (Lancaster

Fencing Academy / Williamsport Fencing Club)

•Silver: Valerie A. Hutchinson (Denver Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Alexandra Swenson (Ataba Fencing Club / Madison Fenc ing Academy)

•Bronze: Marie A. Lawson (DC Fencers Club)

5th: Michele Chimienti (No Fear Fencing / Fortune Fencing)

6th: Kundry E. Haberkern (Salle Auriol Seattle)

7th: Heather Rhea (Central Iowa Fencing Academy)

8th: Ida Choy (Seacoast Fencing Club)

VET 70 MEN’S FOIL -- DANIEL W. MCCARTHY VS. MAREK W. PIATKOWSKI-NAZARRO

RIGHT: VET 60 MEN’S FOIL -- JOHN W. LAWRENCE

VET-40 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Nathan T. Anderson (Denver Fencing Center)

•Silver: Thomas Cheng (Stoccata Fencing Academy & Club / Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Peter Habala (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago)

•Bronze: David S. Lee (Bay Area Fencing Club)

5th: Jesse Mones (Lotus Fencing Academy)

6th: Jason Brown (Ludus Fencing Studio)

7th: Oleg Rusanov (Royal Fencing Academy)

8th: John Tomasi (Rockville Fencing Academy)

VET-40 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Inga Cho (Renaissance Fencing Club)

•Silver: La Foscade-Condon Celine De (Moe Fencing Club LLC)

•Bronz: Kathryn S. Pierrynowski (Research Triangle Fencing)

•Bronze: Traci Sethre

5th: Selina Kaing (California Fencing Academy)

6th: Ida Choy (Seacoast Fencing Club)

7th: Polina S. McGrath (Renaissance Fencing Club)

8th: Soyeon Lippman (Salle Auriol Seattle)

VET-40 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Ivan J. Lee (Long Island University/ Long Island Fencing Center)

•Silver: Jeffrey E. Kallio (Forge Fencing Teams)

•Bronze: Andrew T. Anfora (Team Touche Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Derek Plonka (Avant Garde Fencers Club Inc (CA) (AGFC))

5th: Li Li (Peninsula Fencing Academy)

6th: James Chen (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)

7th: Heath B. Winer (The Fencing Center)

8th: Christian Dudnick (Fencing Academy of Denver)

VET-40 WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Yelena Kalkina (Oregon Fencing Alli ance)

•Silver: Laura S. Johnson (DC Fencers Club)

•Bronze: Elisabet Chiarelli (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Kate Sierra (Atlantic Fencing Academy)

5th: Inga Cho (Renaissance Fencing Club)

6th: Blanca E. Marentes (Salle Auriol Seattle)

7th: Clare L. Deming (Lilov Fencing Academy)

8th: Lynn Y. Zhang (PDX Fencing)

VET-50

VET-50 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu (East Bay Fencers Gym)

•Silver: Darren Barreiro (Atlantic Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Jeffrey H. Snider (DC Fencers Club)

•Bronze: Tobias (Toby) T. Lee (Metro Tacoma Fencing Club)

5th: Aaron Gaines (No Fear Fencing / San Diego Fencing Center)

6th: Joseph H. Deucher (DC Fencers Club)

7th: Elsayed M. Emara (Fortune Fencing / Peoria Fencing Academy)

8th: Alex Rood (East Bay Fencers Gym)

VET-50 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Sharrie A. Zafft (Marx Fencing Acad emy)

•Silver: Yuliya Ganser (Medeo Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Toby Tolley (NMFC/Duke City Fencing)

•Bronze: Ann M. Totemeier (Northern Colorado Fencers / Denver Fencing Center)

5th: Sandra M. Marchant (Rogue Fencing Academy / The Phoenix Center)

6th: Monica M. Exum (Salle Auriol Seattle)

7th: Jeannine A. Prokop (Nova Fencing Club)

8th: Cheryl A. Paine (Red Door Fencing)

VET-50 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Rafael A. Suarez (Masters Fencing Club)

•Silver: Oliver K. Foellmer (LA International Fencing)

•Bronze: Frets G. Olivares (Fencers Club Inc.)

•Bronze: Marek B. Wyszynski (Fencers Club Inc.)

5th: Ken Chilton (LA International Fencing)

6th: Adam Feldman (Zeljkovic Fencing Academy)

7th: Peter R. Grandbois (Denison University Fencing / Columbus Fenc ing and Fitness LLC)

8th: Tobias (Toby) T. Lee (Metro Tacoma Fencing Club)

VET-50 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Jane P. Carter (Marx Fencing Acad emy / Tanner City Fencers Club)

•Silver: Julie T. Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Bonnie L. Hennig-Trestman (Research Triangle Fencing / Connecticut Fencers Club)

•Bronze: Maria Panyi (Masters Fencing Club)

5th: Judith M. Bassik (Profencing)

6th: Darby A. Lytle (Lincoln Fencing Club)

7th: Margaret E. Kerr (Worcester Fencing Club)

8th: Nadia S. Dreyer (Nova Fencing Club)

VET-50 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: William L. Becker

•Silver: Ronald J. Thornton (Capital Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Kim V. Phillips (Houston Sword Sports)

•Bronze: Stephen Dashnaw (Lilov Fencing Academy)

5th: Matthew Zoller (Fencing Academy of Denver)

6th (tie): Mariusz Dolegiewicz (Midwest Fencing Club)

6th (tie): Michael F. Bacon (Manhattan Fencing Center)

8th: Louis V. Montorio (Sheridan Fencing Academy / Sheridan Fencing Academy of Westchester)

VET-50 WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Julie T. Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club)

•Silver: Frauke Berman (Manhattan Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Leigh Altman (Atlantic Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Jasmina Denner (Scarsdale Fencing Center)

5th: Natalia Oblonsky (Manhattan Fencing Center)

6th: Barbara Shinn-Cunningham (Corsair Fencing Club)

7th: Myriam Gluck (Columbus International Fencing Academy / Ad vance Fencing and Fitness Academy)

8th: Emmanuelle C. Jean (Texas Fencing Academy)

VET-60

VET-60 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Rick Watrall (New York Athletic Club)

•Silver: Dick Richards (DC Fencers Club)

•Bronze: David Jensen (Fortune Fencing)

•Bronze: Walter E. Dragonetti (Battle Born Fencing Club / Hooked On Fencing)

5th: Lou Mariani (The Fencing Center)

6th: Evan Ranes (Battle Born Fencing Club)

7th: John R. Varney (Salle Auriol Seattle)

8th: Timothy C. Glass (Ataba Fencing Club)

VET-60 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Cynthia E. Glover (Rain City Fencing Center)

•Silver: Amy C. Montoya (Battle Born Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Pay Simone La (Northwest Fencing Center / Golden Gate Fencing Center)

•Bronze: Cristina G. Gordet (South Florida Fencing Club)

5th: Valerie Asher (DC Fencers Club)

6th: Louise N. Leighton (Escrime Du Lac)

7th: Christine M. Tadlock (Fencing Institute Of Texas)

8th: Suzanne Bloomer (Academy Of Fencing Masters (AFM) / University Alaska Fairbanks Fencing Club)

VET-60 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Paul Epply-Schmidt (Bucks County Academy Of Fencing / Sebastiani Fencing Academy)

•Silver: John W. Lawrence (Durkan Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Oscar M. Estell (Bay Area Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Gerald (Jerry) A. Leblanc (Elite Fencing Club / LA Interna tional Fencing)

5th: Johannes Klein (Rain City Fencing Center)

6th: Henri J. Darricau (Denver Fencing Center)

7th: Philippe Bennett (Fencers Club Inc.)

8th: Thomas (Tom) W. Lutton (Denver Fencing Center / LE CLUB TOUCHE)

VET-60 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Connecti cut Fencers Club)

•Silver: Anne-Marie Walters (Masters Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Nora Gutkovskaya (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Georgina Love

5th: Allison F. Treloar (NMFC/Duke City Fencing)

6th: Suzanne Brown Marx (Northwest Fencing Center)

7th: Lynnette A. Whitt (Rockville Fencing Academy)

8th: Elizabeth (Badger) E. Merritt (Rockville Fencing Academy)

VET-60 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Joshua Runyan (Spartak)

•Silver: Joachim Creten (PDX Fencing)

•Bronze: Dmitri Kopylov (Lilov Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Steven D. Heck (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation/Rockville Fencing Academy)

5th: Todd Bukowski (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation/National Capital Fencers Club)

6th: Mark R. Lundborg (Washington Fencing Academy)

7th: Brent M. Myers (Southwest Florida Fencing Academy/Manhattan Fencing Center)

8th: Robert Grainger (North Florida Fencing Club)

Vet-60 WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Robin J. Pernice (Dynamo Fencing Center Inc.)

•Silver: Chaz V. Smith (Hangtown Saber Club)

•Bronze: Lydia L. Fabry (South Bay Fencing Academy)

•Bronze: Jayne A. Jerkins (Capital Fencing Academy)

5th: Heidi Runyan (Spartak)

6th: Nam Heui Kim (Cambridge Fencing Center)

7th: Jane E. Eyre (Infinity Fencing Alliance)

8th: Beth S. Vance (Renaissance Fencing Club)

VET-70

VET-70 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Jere P. Bothelio (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM) / Fortune Fencing)

•Silver: Bruno Goossens (Oregon)

•Bronze: John A. Moreau (Olympian Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Daryl J. Taylor (Fortune Fencing)

5th: Jeff Spahn (The Phoenix Center / Rogue Fencing Academy)

6th: James L. Newsome (Tidewater Fencing Club)

7th: James E. Flint (Bucks County Academy of Fencing)

8th: Dwain Blakley (Alliance Fencing Academy)

VET-70 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Elizabeth (Liz) R. Kocab (Plymouth/ Ann Arbor Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Bonnie Aher (Salle Auriol Seattle)

•Bronze: Erica Julien (Cape Fear Fencing Association)

•Bronze: Jann L. Ream (Iowa City Fencing Center)

5th: Mary A. Turzillo (On Target Fencing Team / Cyranos Place)

6th: Muriel C. Cawthorn (Rhode Island Fencing Academy And Club)

7th: Bettie J. Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)

8th: Cynthia J. Runyon (High Desert Fencing Alliance)

VET-70 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Daniel (Dan) W. Mccarthy (The Phoe nix Center)

•Silver: Marek W. Piatkowski-Nazarro (Elite Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Jan (Janmon) M. Patterson (Salle Auriol Seattle)

•Bronze: Adrian Sessions (The Fencing Center / Massialas Founda tion (M Team))

5th: Joseph S. Streb (Royal Arts Fencing Academy)

6th: Paul B. Kazimiroff (Beverly Hills Fencers’ Club)

7th: James L. Newsome (Tidewater Fencing Club)

8th: James V. Brykczynski (Bucks County Academy of Fencing)

VET-70 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Judith (Jude) A. Offerle (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago / University of Notre Dame)

•Silver: Joanne B. Stevens (Fencers Club Inc.)

•Bronze: Gemin Channing (Rockville Fencing Academy / Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

•Bronze: Patricia Lutton (Denver Fencing Center)

5th: Fay A. Vittetoe (Iowa City Fencing Center)

6th: Madelon M. Rosenfeld (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club / Fencers Club Inc.)

7th: Muriel C. Cawthorn (Rhode Island Fencing Academy and Club)

8th: Bettie J. Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)

VET 8-0 WOMEN’S EPEE -- MARY TURZILLO VS. BETTIE GRAHAM

VET-70 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Joseph S. Streb (Royal Arts Fencing Academy)

•Silver: Keith L. Baker (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

•Bronze: C. David Seuss (Fencing Academy of Boston)

•Bronze: Ted Smith (Hangtown Saber Club)

5th: Philip V. Reilly (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

6th: Philip (Doc) D. Kath (Knights of Siena (SC))

7th: Alexander M. Libers (Southwest Florida Fencing Academy/Naples Fencing Academy)

8th: Victor (Vic) E. Bianchini (Spartak/Golden Sabre Academy)

VET-70 WOMEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Linda J. J. Dunn (IndySabre / Indianapolis Fencing Club)

•Silver: Gemin Channing (Rockville Fencing Academy / Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

•Bronze: Claire M. Hanamoto (Hangtown Saber Club)

•Bronze: Judith (Jude) A. Offerle (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago / Uni versity of Notre Dame)

5th: Erica Julien (Cape Fear Fencing Association)

6th: Anna (Annie) C. Mannino (San Francisco Sabre School)

7th: Lynne E Olson (Columbus Fencing and Fitness LLC)

8th: Ellen O’Leary (Western Washington)

VET-80

VET-80 MEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: James (Jim) H. Adams (DC Fencers Club)

•Silver: Richard (Dick) M. Dunlop (Illinois Fencers Club)

•Bronze: Mark R. Henry (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)

•Bronze: Jose M. Deolivares (Cardinal Fencing Academy)

5th: Tung-Shan (Fritz) Chang (NEMA Fencing Center)

6th: Victor (Vic) E. Bianchini (Spartak / Golden Sabre Academy)

VET-80 WOMEN’S EPEE

•Gold & National Champion: Bettie J. Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)

•Silver: Mary A. Turzillo (On Target Fencing Team / Cyranos Place)

VET-80 MEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Davis W. Carvey (Rain City Fencing Center

/ Salle Auriol Seattle)

•Silver: Tung-Shan (Fritz) Chang (NEMA Fencing Center)

VET-80 WOMEN’S FOIL

•Gold & National Champion: Bettie J. Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)

•Silver: Mary A. Turzillo (On Target Fencing Team / Cyranos Place)

VET-80 MEN’S SABER

•Gold & National Champion: Victor (Vic) E. Bianchini (Spartak / Golden Sabre Academy)

•Silver: Richard (Dick) M. Dunlop (Illinois Fencers Club)

•Bronze: Tung-Shan (Fritz) Chang (NEMA Fencing Center)

VET-80 WOMEN’S SABER

Not contested

VET 60 MEN’S SABER -JOSHUA RUNYAN BOTTOM: VET 80 WOMEN’S FOIL -- BETTIE J. GRAHAM

VETERAN TEAM

VETERAN MEN’S EPEE — TEAM

•Gold: NYAC Immortals (Alexander E. Tsinis, Chris S. O’Loughlin, Rick Watrall and Jonathan R. Bartlett)

•Silver: Bad Boys (Eric Hansen, Carl E. Loeffler, Iliya Mechkov and Mark Nixon)

•Bronze: East Bay Fencers Gym (Graham Allen, Joel H. Kaufman, Keith H. Lichten and Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu)

VETERAN WOMEN’S EPEE — TEAM

•Gold: The Roses (Yuliya Ganser, Elizabeth (Liz) R. Kocab, Sandra M. Marchant and Sharrie A. Zafft)

•Silver: Mid-Atlantic Marauders (Charlotta Bowie, Marie A. Lawson, Nicole P. Polanichka and Klaudia Shick)

•Bronze: Salle Auriol Seattle Kraken (Monica M. Exum, Kundry E. Haberkern and Carola K. Schmid)

VETERAN MEN’S FOIL — TEAM

•Gold: Wildlife Fencing (Matt W. Cameron, Peter Habala, John F. Kissingford and Kwangsuk Chung)

•Silver: Vintage Fencers (Jamie M. Douraghy, Oliver K. Foellmer, Ken Chilton and Paul Epply-Schmidt)

•Bronze: Fence Forever Team (Timothy Chang, Hernandez Yasmany E. Diaz and Alexander W. Wood)

VETERAN WOMEN’S FOIL — TEAM

•Gold: Julie Seal’s Team (Celine de la Foscade-Condon, Maria Panyi, Kathryn S. Pierrynowski and Julie T. Seal)

•Silver: Team FeNCe (Judith M. Bassik, Jane P. Carter, Margaret E. Kerr and Darby A. Lytle)

•Bronze: Brooklyn College & friends (Sharone A. Huey, Georgina Love, Jennette Starks-Faulkner and Anne-Marie Walters)

VETERAN MEN’S SABER — TEAM

•Gold: The Tri-State Troublemakers (Michael F. Bacon, Stephen Dashnaw, Dmitri Kopylov and Ronald J. Thornton)

•Silver: Bada$$ (William L. Becker, Jon Graff, George Kaouris and Louis V. Montorio)

•Bronze: DC Gentlemen (Keith L. Baker, Joachim Creten, Steven D. Heck and Jeffrey E. Kallio)

VETERAN WOMEN’S SABER — TEAM

•Gold: Julie Seal’s Team (Jasmina Denner, Eileen Foley, Julie T. Seal and Chaz V. Smith)

•Silver: Four of a Kind (Frauke Berman, Natalia Oblonsky, Yelena Kalkina and Nadia S. Dreyer)

•Bronze: Victorious Secret (Kate Sierra, Leigh Altman, Clare L. Deming and Laura S. Johnson)

VET 80 WOMEN’S FOIL -- BETTIE J. GRAHAM

BY JEFF BUKANTZ

TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT THE FIRST GENERATION OF VIDEO REPLAY

I

t is undeniable that the inclusion of video replay has been the greatest innovation for fencing since the weapons became electric.

It had the effect of making average referees become pretty good, above-average referees become very good and excellent referees become nearly perfect. In addition, the avail ability of video replay had the effect of calming the supercharged environment, as a safety net now existed for both fencers and referees.

But first, just a quick aside on the revolution ary change from dry to electric in foil back in the mid 1950s.

My late father, Dan, a USA Fencing Hall of Fame member, used to tell me about how fencing changed from when he competed with dry foil at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and then electric at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Amaz ingly, Frenchman Christian d'Oriola won the gold at both.

My dad said the biggest change go ing from dry to electric was the previ ously linear game saw a new types of lateral whipping actions where the foil’s angle was anything but straight. Fenc ers started utilizing these actions that never would have been called in dry foil but were now turning on the light. Yes, the flick was born in the 1950s when foil changed over to electric.

Coincidentally, I happened to have been team captain during the next great in novation, both at the pre-video 2004 Ath ens Olympics, as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where video was used officially for the first time. Had there been video in Athens, I believe we would have won another medal. Conversely, had there not been video in Bei jing, we would have earned one fewer medal.

As the years have passed and a new genera tion of American fencers has emerged, it is time to retell the story of these two Olympics.

In Athens, the men’s saber team was seeded seventh and faced No. 2 Hungary in the quarterfinals. Led by closer Keeth Smart with Ivan Lee and Jason Rogers (Tim Morehouse in reserve), the team pulled off a stunning upset and met France in the semis.

Smart faced Damien Touya in the last round and took a 44-43 lead. On that 44th touch, Smart’s saber punctured Touya’s hand, and there was an injury timeout. Whatever mo mentum Smart had was temporarily stopped. Naturally, Touya tied the score at 44-44.

being called simultaneous. While it is the ref eree’s duty to make the same call at 44-44 as they would at 0-0, this next touch guaranteed an Olympic medal, and Alvarez chose not to split hairs.

Then, disaster struck for us. On the third action in the box, with no apparent difference from the first two simultaneous calls, Alvarez called attack for Touya. Coach Yury Gelman and I jumped out of the team box to approach Alvarez, but the call was made. There was no video replay available to challenge the deci sion.

We will never understand why Alvarez chose to split hairs on the third action.

But it was the first action by Smart where a video review might have sent us into the gold medal match. Whatever the case, the chance to fence for gold was lost, and the team eventually finished fourth, losing in the bronze medal match to Russia, again by the heartbreaking score of 45-44.

While the loss was painful, it was how we lost that will forever leave a scar.

Four years later, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, another poten tial nightmare was turned into a dream thanks to video replay.

What happened next was a nightmare for us and a dream come true for France.

On the first action in the box, it appeared that Smart attacked first. Referee Jose Luis Alvarez of Spain called it simultaneous. OK, we thought, fair enough. At 44-44, let the medal-winning touch be decisive.

On the second action in the box, Alvarez again called simultaneous, although it looked like Touya might have been first. Again, we were fine with the close actions in the box

In a repeat of Athens, we were again seeded seventh and again drew second-seeded Hungary in the quarters. Smart again was the closer, and along with Morehouse and Rogers (with James Williams in reserve), they scored another huge upset.

Now, in the semis, we would fence Rus sia. Smart was faced with a daunting 40-35 deficit in the last round against five-time World Champion Stanislav Pozdnyakov. It was an uphill battle, to say the least.

Let’s slow things down to see where we’ve been and where we’re headed

RULES & REFEREES

Smart, always the fighter, brought the score to 43-44.

What happened next was almost a disaster.

Smart was advancing down the strip and veered off the side. The side judge raised his hand when he saw this, which would have rendered any new action by either fencer as invalid. The arena was packed, and it was tele vised. Yet the only people who saw the side judge raise his hand were Smart, who flinched and stopped fencing, and all of us in the team box. We were looking right down the strip at the side judge.

The referee had no idea the side judge raised his hand or why Smart hesitated and allowed Pozdnyakov’s free shot to count, giving Russia the 45-43 win and a place in the gold medal match. Everything happened in a split second, and then the issue became a mess when the side judge pulled down his hand. Yes, this happened at the Olympic Games!

I told Smart not to shake hands and that we were requesting a video review. The referee, the late Zsolt Kaposvari of Hungary, looked at me incredulously and said, “You’re not going to win this.”

The time Kaposvari conferred with the video referee, whom I believe was the late Keith Smith of Great Britain, seemed like an eternity. Finally, Kaposvari returned to the strip, looked at me with a wry smile, and announced that the last touch was annulled, as the video clearly showed Smart off the strip prior to Pozdnyakov’s easy and undefended pop to Smart’s head. Fortunately, the video captured why the halt should have been called, as there was no video of the side judge raising and then lowering his hand!

Incredibly, we got an Olympic do-over on the match-losing touch!

Smart heroically scored the next two touches, flew off the raised strip into our arms as we jumped out of the box and redeemed the disaster of Athens.

The team took the silver against France that night, an Olympic medal that was rightfully won thanks to a video review and the courage of referee Kaposvari, who undoubtedly made one of the toughest calls of his exceptional career.

WHERE THINGS STAND

While video replay has moved fencing to the next level, there is still room for improvement. Here are a few ideas.

1) ADD SOUND

Replay video still lacks sound. There are so many blade actions where the addi tion of sound would help. In addition, it would enable us to hear when the referee called halt and whether a new action began after the halt.

2) REMOVE EGOS

As previously discussed in this column, there will always be a problem when referees put their egos ahead of the fencers and refuse to change a call. If the strip referee and the video referee disagree, the strip referee still gets to make the call. Far too often, the ego-driven referee chooses to maintain the original call in these situations.

The answer is not to give the final decision to the video referee. Maybe in cases with disagreement, the call should automatically be thrown out.

3) WATCH AT FULL SPEED, TOO Häagen-Dazs ice cream used to have a saying on its containers: “Please allow to achieve room temperature in order to get the full flavor bouquet.”

Well, when slowing down the video to 70% or slower, it has the effect of chang ing the flavor of the action. It tends to overemphasize the smallest mistakes and often results in the counter-attacker wrongfully becoming the attacker in the referee’s eyes.

I have watched incredulously as referees, watching at slow speeds, nitpick and almost look for a reason to reverse calls that, at full speed, are pretty easy to discern.

Of course, there are plenty of times when watching at slower speeds can help. But watching at full speed gives you the best chance to get the full flavor bouquet of the action.

4) LIMIT THE NUMBER OF COOKS IN THE KITCHEN

When reviewing the video, the strip and video referees should have peace and quiet. Instead, they are surrounded by a throng of fencers, coaches, fans and parents chiming in with their opinions as they crane their necks to watch the replay as the referees are watching it.

Quite often, other referees will be sitting in the area and chiming in, as well.

There needs to be a degree of privacy afforded to the referees, as the external pressure from the onlookers creates somewhat of a chaotic environment.

Please forgive me for being a full-fledged hypocrite. I just criticized referees for nitpicking on videos and here I am nitpicking on certain aspects of video replay!

At the end of the day, the first generation of video replay has been an overwhelm ing success and one of the greatest steps forward for fencing. Let’s hope that the next generation sees improvement in the areas I delineated.

SPORTS MEDICINE Q&A

BY DR. PEGGY CHIN, USA FENCING DIRECTOR OF SPORTS MEDICINE

HOW REST & RECOVERY CAN SUPERCHARGE YOU FOR THE SEASON

The 2021-22 fencing season came to an end with the culmination of Summer Nationals and the July Challenge in Minneapolis, Minn. The season was challenging for many, with an uncertain competition schedule, inconsistent training routing and lingering worry about a pandemic that appears to have no end in sight. The postseason offered an opportunity for rest and recovery, while evaluating the past season’s highs and lows and planning for the upcoming season.

Fencers are not immune to injury, overtraining or burnout. With limited time to rest between seasons, coaches and athletes have an opportunity to use tools that can best help them rest recover from the previous season and to effectively use methodologies, like periodization training, to help them prepare for the next season.

This article is not intended to provide a detailed training plan, as all training is individualized and specific to the needs of the athlete. The purpose is to introduce and revisit concepts to help fencers best prepare for the next season and beyond.

WHAT IS PERIODIZATION TRAINING?

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NCSA) defines periodization as “the logical and systemic process of se quencing and integrating training interventions in order to achieve peak performance at appropriate time points.”

In other words, it allows an athlete to adjust several training vari ables — such as workout duration, load and timing — to optimize performance, avoid overtraining and ensure that they peak at the right time.

Periodization training is not a new concept. When used appropri ately, and in guidance with trained professionals and stakeholders, it offers fencers more balance in training to help them reach their fencing goals for the year.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and training plans are creat ed based on the goals of the athlete. When developing goals, one must also take into consideration the physical health and mental wellness of the fencer. Fencing practice, competition schedule and athlete availability are important factors in program design.

DEFINING THE MACROCYCLE: PREPARATORY, COMPETITIVE, TRANSITION

Preparatory

This phase is known as the offseason and preseason, in the weeks or months leading up to the competitive season. Unlike other sports, fencing does not have a true preseason. The short offseason is an opportunity to start planning for training and practice centered around the competition season. Importantly, in corporating rest days is key to longevity of the season and career.

Competitive

This phase is known as competition season or in-season. The start of the main competition season will be the October NAC in Minneapolis. This phase is a shift into peak performance, likely as the fencer moves into the second third of the season and main tains their level of performance or improves upon it as the season comes to a close.

MACROCYCLE, MESOCYCLE, & MICROCYCLE

Periodization training comprises three types of cycles: macro cycle, mesocycle and microcycle. A macrocycle divides into three periods (some texts mention there are four stages) and is often re ferred to as the annual training plan for an individual. Each of these periods can be divided into a mesocycle (weeks) to a microcycle (week) and to individual training (days).

Transition

This phase signifies the end of the competition schedule. The NSCA defines this as the postseason, where it is important to build on rest and recovery after a long and arduous season.

BENEFITS OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD

Physical Health

The postseason offers a rare opportunity for fencers to decrease their training load and, in some instances, stop training for a limited time. Active rest and recovery during this time should highlight non-fencing types of physical activity, which includes a decrease in strength and conditioning training.

If cessation of training occurs, it is wise to limit how much time off to commit to. For elite fencers (i.e. national, world and Olympic/Para lympic team members), two to three weeks is recommended as physiological changes to fitness levels, including muscular endurance and strength, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, may occur. Amateur athletes can easily take up to four weeks off to help with physical recovery from the long season.

In the transition period, it is ideal to address nagging injuries and renew the body, both physically and mentally. Injuries sustained in the season should be addressed by a qualified sports medicine provider. Healthcare providers who attain certificates of added qualifications (CAQ) in sports medicine are exceptionally trained to evaluate, diagnose, treat and manage musculoskeletal conditions in the athletic population. Chronic and previous history of injuries should also be appropriately managed through proper rehabilitation and physiotherapy.

Mental Health

Mental health should be addressed throughout the season. There are stressors on and off the strip, such as traveling nationally or internationally, participating in NCAA competitions, or completing assignments for classes. Consider incorporating techniques to help with mental health, such as meditation, journaling and positive psychology.

REAP THE REWARDS OF REST & RECOVERY

There are no shortcuts to achieving one’s goals. Smart planning around training can help to prolong the season, limit exposure to injury, and manage overtraining and burnout. By maximizing the benefits of rest and recovery during the offseason, one will be renewed and refreshed for another start to the competition season.

REFERENCES

Brukner, P., Khan, K., et. al. Clinical Sports Medicine, Volume 1: Injuries. 5th Ed.

Garcia-Pallares, J., Carrasco, L., Diaz, A., Sanchez-Medina, L. (2009) Post-season detraining effects on physiological and performance parameters in top-level kayakers: comparison of two recovery strategies. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 8, 622-6th 28.

Haff, G. & Triplett, N. Essentials of Strength and Conditioning. 4th Ed.

Huberman, A. (Host). (2022, Jul 04). Jeff Cavaliere: Optimize Your Exercise Program with Science-Based Tools. In Huberman Lab. Scicomm Media.

BY JOHN HEIL

ATHLETE MENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY SUICIDE & SUICIDE PREVENTION

This is a difficult article to write about a difficult conversation to have. It’s about those mental health challenges that athletes don’t survive. It’s about suicide.

In March and April 2022, three successful collegiate studentathletes committed suicide: Katie Meyer (Stanford University), Sarah Schulze (University of Wisconsin) and Lauren Bennett (James Madison University).

Unfortunately, their stories and tragic early passings are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to depression and suicide. In the USA in 2020, there were more than 1 million suicide attempts, with about 130 actual suicide completions each day.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide deaths for women and girls more than doubled between the years 2001 and 2020, while for men and boys the same figure increased by 60%. This is part of a growing trend in mental health problems that has been most likely worsened by the pandemic.

Athletes and student-athletes have been directly affected, prompting initiatives from groups like the NCAA and the Inter national Olympic Committee. While professional mental health access and sport organizational responses are essential, there is more that can and needs to be done. Bystander intervention pro grams focus on helping friends and teammates take action when someone appears to be struggling emotionally. The more who are engaged and informed, the better.

However, with cases of completed suicide, there comes an understandable shockwave of loss, grief and confusion for family, friends, teammates and schoolmates. Inevitably there are ques tions, like “Why did this happen?”, “What are the signs?”, “How could it have been prevented?” or “Could I have done more?”.

Many potential suicides are stopped before completion. Below, we’ll consider reasons why suicidal thoughts and actions may arise, the signs of suicide risk and what coaches, teammates and family members can do to provide support for someone struggling with suicidal ideation.

Personally, as a psychologist, I find encounters with suicidal persons both extremely challenging and critically important, even with professional training and years of experience in the mental health field. I have witnessed the devastating impact of suicide on loved ones. I’ve helped to successfully manage multiple suicide crisis situations, including once at a NAC. I have also been deeply saddened to learn of a fencer’s death by suicide at an international tournament after their perceived poor performance.

My personal takeaway from these experiences is that showing up authentically and in a supportive and direct manner will prevent some suicides.

Depression and suicide may stem from personal loss, grief or disap pointment, or feelings of rejection and humilia tion – on or off the field of play. Alcohol and drug use oftentimes exacerbate these feelings. A cohesive support system, available resources and compas sionate and caring team mates may serve as lines of defense for those who are struggling.

Understanding why an individual may experience suicidal ideation or plan ning is a first step – what signs to look for followed by how to respond with care and knowledge.

Most importantly, if you recognize signs of low mood, with drawal, change of appetite or any out-of-the-ordinary behavior for an individual, it’s important to reach out to them. This might be as simple as “I’ve noticed you seem down. How are you feeling?” or “It seems like you have been having a rough time lately, I’m concerned about you.”

Next, listen actively and carefully! Often, when asked with care and compassion, individuals will want to express how they feel and what they may be going through. If you have relevant personal experience, consider whether it may be appropriate to share it. Importantly, it is reasonable to ask clear and direct question about suicide. It is a myth that discussing suicide, and suicidal ideation and planning (even just using the word), will encourage individu als to complete suicide. Remember to keep listening, even if you are uncomfortable. Above all, encourage the person struggling to seek mental health treatment and be willing to offer to help them through this process. If the person is displaying imminent risk of harming themselves, stay with them and call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, for further help and support.

Some who are in distress will be on the edge of disclosure, hesi tant and reluctant to acknowledge suicidal thoughts or feelings, but leaving you feeling very uncomfortable with their emotional state. You may consider saying something like: “There has been a lot about mental health and suicide in the news recently. It seems that often people are in distress but are afraid to speak about it. If this were the case with you, I hope you would be able to talk with me or someone else about this.”

You may help this along by pointing out that many athletes, even great ones like Simone Biles and Michael Phelps, have suffered mental health problems, speak ing openly about them. In this situation, be patient and listen carefully, in particular for signs of “unlovability” (no one really cares), “unbearability” (feelings that are too intense to live with) and “unsolvability” (there is no solution in sight). Showing sincere interest counters feelings of unlovability, may dimin ish the sense of “unbearability,” and help with identifying a path to a solution.

If you are not prepared to be open or will ing to recognize the validity of another per son’s feelings, whether you agree with them or not, you should not try to help them. Do not engage in a philosophic or moral dis cussion about suicide. Do not suggest that suicide is a desirable alternative, or that the person is not serious.

It’s important to know and be armed with resources. The national Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988. This is not only for those who may be considering suicide but also those who are concerned about others or assisting some one experiencing a crisis. Extensive infor mation, including social media shareables, is available at the website: www.samhsa. gov/find-help/988. I’ve included various other resources and educational informa tion regarding the care and management of crises, below.

Dr. John Heil is a sport and clinical psychologist, who served as chair of USA Fencing Sports Medicine & Science for 15 years, and as a sport psychology consultant at three Olympic Games. Nicole Ross, an elite U.S. fencer and doctoral student in clinical psychology, shared in the preparation of the article and offered her perspective as an Olympic athlete. Thanks also to Dr. Ina Harizanova and Dr. Rich Gordin for their review and comments.

Hollywood’s First Fencing Master

BY DOUG NICHOLS

HENRI UYTTENHOVE (LEFT) POSES WITH DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS SR. DURING THE MAKING OF 1920’S “THE MARK OF ZORRO” WHILE DIRECTOR FRED NIBLO CRITIQUES. PHOTO COURTESY OF MURIEL BOWER.

A h, Hollywood. It’s been called “The Land of Broken Dreams” — and a lot of other things, some of them even flattering.

If there is one thing Hollywood has mastered through constant attention to minutia, it’s fighting over who was “first.” It’s an endless, circular battle that usually can’t be won. Facts, in such an argument, come second to belief. Stop me if this sounds familiar. Before you go, let me make my case for Henri Joseph Uyttenhove, Hol lywood’s first fencing master.

There are two main contenders for the title of the first Hollywood fencing master, or choreographer, if you prefer that term, but the facts barely scratch the surface of a confounding problem.

Of the two candidates, Uyttenhove and Fred Cavens, the latter had, by far, the longer career. Plus, his film work has been well documented. Uyttenhove’s time working in Hollywood, and any deserved credit for that work, is hampered by several problems, including the fact that fight choreographers were not likely to see their name in the credits at the end of the film.

If you watch old movies, you’ll know that by reading the credits it only took about 20 people, including the actors, to make a movie. Of course, that wasn’t accurate — then or now. Looking at the Internet Movie Database, you can see on just about any film someone listed as “uncred ited.” That means that while they worked on the movie, their name doesn’t show up on screen. It still happens.

It’s often a company-based decision. Subcontracted companies, like visual effects houses, can get contrac tually shorted on the number of credits they can have, so people get left out.

Somewhere along the line, film researchers did the legwork of checking old production records to determine who was paid to work on a film, irrespective of the final credit roll on screen, and made that information avail able on IMDB.

That all leads me back to H. J. Uyttenhove (1878-1950), fencing master for the Belgian army, who emigrated to the United States in 1907 and settled in Pasadena, Calif. He taught at the then-new Pasadena Athletic Club and the Los Angeles Athletic Club, which he could access via the Red Car’s Pasadena Short Line route to downtown LA.

Uyttenhove’s personal life had some crazy ups and downs, includ ing his in-laws secretly removing his wife to Arizona, kidnapping his two daughters to Canada, a brief trial (exonerated), divorce, then remarrying the same woman. Even with all that, his work as a fencing master was unequaled in the west for decades. He coached Olympic team members Ralph Faulkner (1928, 1932) and Andrew Boyd (1936, 1948), trained Helene Mayer when she was in Southern California for school at Scripps College and taught the talented and successful competitors Fred Linkmeyer and Muriel (Calkins) Bower. Professor Uyttenhove was also the fencing instructor at the University of Southern California from the late 1920s until the early 1940s, which is where he first encountered Linkmeyer, USC fencing team captain in 1931.

The problem with defending Uyttenhove’s title as the first Hollywood fight choreographer becomes clear if you type in his name into the IMDB search box. He’s only there by proxy — a victim of frequent misspellings.

Instead of Uyttenhove, you’ll find M. Harry Uttenhover and H. J. Utterhore. This is exacerbated by period documentation. A 1920 press release from the Douglas Fairbanks company announced the hire of one “M. Harry Uttenhover, of Belgium, thrice world’s champion fencer.” His role with that company was to train not only Fairbanks, but anyone who would cross swords with the star. To quote the ar ticle, “For three weeks these players have been put through a regular course of fencing and it was only after they had become thoroughly proficient in their method of combat that they were permitted to en gage Fairbanks in duels.”

Uyttenhove’s first official screen credit, if we forgive the misdirec tion of the improper spelling, is the 1917 Douglas Fairbanks partly period mashup, A Modern Musketeer. Fairbanks wouldn’t begin his reign as the man who put the swash in swashbuckler until 1920 and The Mark of Zorro. The photo accompanying this article that shows Uyttenhove (the lefty) and Fairbanks takes place in front of a billboard for The Mollycoddle, which starred Fairbanks and was released in the summer of 1920, giving a spot-on means of dating the picture. The Mark of Zorro, his next film, was a turning point in Fairbanks’ already good fortunes that would see him playing Zorro (twice), D’Artagnan (twice), Robin Hood, a notorious pirate and Don Juan over the last 14 years of his career as an action star.

In contrast with Uyttenhove, the spelling of Fred Cavens always seems spot-on. His credits span the early 1920’s through his retire ment in 1961. Interestingly, his earliest IMDB listing shows him as “uncredited” for working on The Mark of Zorro. Could he and Uyttenhove both have worked on the same film? It’s possible, I suppose. However, I’ve got to go with unlikely, based on a highly publicized dispute that splashed across the pages of the Los Angeles Times in June of 1922.

It seems that during a banquet in his honor at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Uyttenhove issued a public challenge to anyone willing to try him in a match in all three weapons. Cavens, under the direction of one Captain Arthur Saint-Remie, listed as Cavens’ fencing master, accepted … with conditions. One condition was they were to fence only with foils, since sabers were “beneath the notice of a gentleman” — so says the LA Times, although it is not a direct quote.

Supporters of Uyttenhove then kicked the stakes up a notch by offering a prize of $2,000 to be matched by the supporters of Cavens and “disposed of as the winner sees fit.” Over the course of several weeks, the stakes, weapons and location were bandied about. The notion of other fencers, listed as seconds, having matches against counterparts from the opposing side were thrown into the mix.

In the end, it seems to have come to naught. No articles reference any actual event occurring. However, it does seem to solidify the future dynamic between, apparently, all fencing masters in Hollywood into the 1960s. Ralph Faulkner worked under Cavens as a stunt double until they began competing for the same work. Jean Heremans, Uyt tenhove’s successor at both the LAAC and USC, joined the mix in the late 1940s, and Aldo Nadi, after his 1940 arrival in Hollywood, claimed they were all charlatans compared to his obviously superior ability. He went so far as to write opinion pieces in trade magazines excoriating the swordplay upon the release of swashbucklers that he didn’t choreograph.

In considering this period, Nadi found the least amount of work in Hollywood and Faulkner the most. But leading them all into this new era of entertainment was Henri J. Uyttenhove, Hollywood’s first fencing master.

PROFESSOR UYTTENHOVE WITH HIS STUDENT RALPH FAULKNER IN A 1931 PHOTO TAKEN AT THE LOS ANGELES ATHLETIC CLUB.

By Debbie Amsbaugh

NICK ITKIN DEFEATS ITALIAN WORLD CHAMPION ALESSIO FOCONI IN THE QUARTERFINALS TO SECURE A SPOT IN THE MEDAL ROUNDS.

Recently, I sat down with Nick Itkin, the U.S. men’s foil team’s rising star who has won a string of individual medals over the past few years, including a World Cup gold (Paris, 2020), Grand Prix silver (Shanghai, 2019) and Senior World Championship bronze (Cairo, 2022).

Amsbaugh: Congratulations on your bronze medal in men’s foil and silver in men’s team foil at the Senior World Championships!

Itkin: Thank you very much.

Amsbaugh: Your 15-14 loss to current world champion Enzo Lefort was a heartbreaker. How are you feeling about your performance? Do you have a major takeaway from that bout?

Itkin: It definitely was a heartbreaker. It’s tough because I really felt unstoppable after my bout in the quarterfinals. My confidence was through the roof, and I really felt like I could have won the whole thing. I was up 14-13 and made some poor decisions. Of course, it’s easier to say that now rather than in the moment. But overall, I’m grateful to get my first Senior World Championships medal.

Amsbaugh: The U.S. men’s foil team had a strong finish taking the silver. How are you feeling about the team? What challenges do you face in the run-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics?

Itkin: Yeah, we ended with a great result. I definitely wish I fenced better in the final bout. Chase [Emmer] fenced amazingly the whole day, and he’s only 18. But I’m very confident in my team. We have a great dynamic, and I think we will be even more prepared next time. I think my biggest challenge is my mental state. The Olympic Games require a lot of mental strength and isn’t just who is the best fencer but who is the most confident that day.

Amsbaugh: What was your training regimen leading up to the World Championships? Did you take a break after Worlds ended?

Itkin: My preparation for Worlds was great. We had a camp before Worlds in Minneapolis with our national team and a few other strong international fencers. My favorite kind of training is fencing intensely to 15 with high-level opponents. Those competitive bouts put me and my body in the right place for Worlds. Those bouts resembled the bouts I was going to have to fence at Worlds. I took the whole month of August off because it was a very long and tiring season. I needed my mind and body to rest. I got to travel and enjoy time off.

Amsbaugh: Will you change anything for the 2022-23 season?

Itkin: Last season, I was finishing my last year of school and there were a lot of distractions around me. For 2022-23, I will resume my training at home and have a lot of time to focus on conditioning and fencing. I will also take the opportunity to travel to fence other high-level fencers where I can have those intense bouts.

Amsbaugh: Congratulations on joining the Absolute Fencing Team. You became sponsored by them July 6, 2022. What does having a sponsor mean to you?

Itkin: Yes, thank you. They have been great to me. Gary [Lu], the owner, is a great guy. I enjoy working with them and joining their team. It’s awesome; it makes me able to train and compete professionally without having to worry about not having enough equipment. Or if I ever need anything last minute, I can always get it.

Amsbaugh: Let’s go back to your start in fencing. I understand you started at 7 at your father’s club, the Los Angeles Inter national Fencing Center. How do you think being surrounded by world-class fencers from an early age impacted you?

NICK ITKIN WINNING AGAINST JAPAN’S TAKA HIRO SHIKINE IN THE INDIVIDUAL FOIL ROUND OF 16 IN CAIRO.

Itkin: Yes, that’s correct. I basically lived at the club. When I was a kid, I would spend all my time there after school. Fencing was going to be a big part of my life. I always wanted to be the best. I felt like I would have wasted all that time fencing if I wasn’t going to make something out of it.

Amsbaugh: Were you always a foilist?

Itkin: Yeah, I always did foil.

Amsbaugh: Did you ever try saber or epee?

Itkin: I try them for fun sometimes. At Notre Dame, I fenced saber and epee at a meet one time, and I had some success in epee but not as much in saber.

Amsbaugh: You are known for studying your opponents. Was that something your coach taught you? What’s your process?

Itkin: Yes, especially at the senior level. Everyone starts to watch you and analyze your fencing. I think that’s one of the biggest dif ferences between the junior and senior levels is that fencers change their strategies when you fence them. I prefer losing bouts where the opponent overplayed me rather than I didn’t fence my best, because then I can see my mistakes and which actions I need to come prepared with for next time.

Amsbaugh: How would you describe your fencing style?

Itkin: I never know how to answer this question properly. I feel like it’s adaptable and changes frequently.

Amsbaugh: There was a marked change in your performances around 2015. What changed?

Itkin: I think mostly my mentality. I became more dedicated to the sport once I got a good result because I felt like I had a chance to make something out of the sport. I always had some decent results, but I was never winning anything. In 2015, I started winning NACs and European circuits, and each win gave me more and more con fidence and made me feel more confident in my actions.

Amsbaugh: You navigated the transition from youth fencer to college fencer very well. You have again transitioned well to senior fencing. To what do you attribute that change?

Itkin: I’m not sure, really. I think I’m just comfortable to adapting my fencing. I always try to add stuff to my fencing and adjust my style when needed. So, when I’m fencing junior, college or senior athletes my fencing changes by itself to match the speed and style.

Amsbaugh: 2018 was a banner year for you: NCAA champion, U.S. national champion and junior world champion. How did that feel? How did you manage all the travel and competitions with college?

Itkin: It was definitely not easy. Notre Dame was incredibly helpful in that my teachers were very understanding of me missing class. I was basically competing every weekend second semester. The travel became really tiring but I was also fencing at a really high level. I wouldn’t get nervous very much since I was already competing almost every weekend.

Amsbaugh: Fencing in the Olympics was a goal you achieved at a young age. What are your current fencing goals?

Itkin: Yes. It’s crazy at the Olympics that I was the youngest Ameri can fencer, but at World Championships in Cairo there were like six or seven people younger than me. I want a gold medal in the Olympics. That has always been the dream and goal.

NICK ITKIN WINS BRONZE IN CAIRO.

Amsbaugh: What has been your best fencing moment?

Itkin: I think still to this day winning the CIP [Challenge International de Paris] in Paris in 2020 was one of the coolest moments for me, purely because of the fans and experience. I never had so many kids cheer for me and want to meet me like that before. It was an awesome experience. And of course, the Olympics was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget.

Amsbaugh: What was your most difficult loss? What did you learn from that?

Itkin: Honestly, the Olympics was a tough one. In individuals, my bout was a huge learning experience. I wanted to win so badly that it got in the way of me fencing at my best. I have had a lot of difficult losses and each one I have learned a lot from, and they made me a lot stronger.

Amsbaugh: Who inspires you?

Itkin: Other professional athletes. Kobe [Bryant] is someone I always looked up to when I was a kid. Every kid in L.A. wanted to be like Kobe. His grind was unmatched. And then my teammates. They have

incredible careers. And they motivate me.

Amsbaugh: What do you do when you aren’t on the piste?

Itkin: If I weren’t a fencer, I would definitely be playing another sport. I’m naturally very competitive in any sport. I feel like I can pick up most sports very quickly. I grew up playing tennis. I love playing tennis, soccer and I’m starting to get into boxing. So, I will be very active this offseason. And spend some time with my friends and family.

Amsbaugh: What does the future hold for you personally and in fencing?

Itkin: I think I haven’t accomplished nearly as much as I wanted to in fencing yet. Personally, I plan to train professionally until the Paris Olympic Games. Then after that, I plan to try to get my MBA and work in business while training until the L.A. Games in 2028. Having the Games in L.A. is an incredible opportunity. I want the world to see my hometown and experience the culture I grew up around. I want everyone around me to be at the Games in L.A.

CAIRO MEN’S FOIL MEDALISTS: (L-R) TOMMASO MARINI (ITA, SILVER), ENZO LEFORT (FRA, GOLD), NICK ITKIN (USA, BRONZE), KA LONG CHEUNG (HKG, BRONZE).

TEAM USA concluded the 2022 Fencing World Championships with four medals (two silver, two bronze), which a amounted to its best performance at the event since 2018.

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST LEE KIEFER WINNING A BRONZE IN WOMEN’S FOIL IN CAIRO.

TEXT BY BRYAN WENDELL | PHOTOS BY #BIZZITEAM

FENCING FRANCE’S ENZO LEFORT, WHO ULTIMATELY TOOK GOLD, NICK ITKIN WINS BRONZE IN MEN’S FOIL.

CAIRO — In 2018, the same year Nick Itkin (Los Angeles) won a Junior World Champion ship in men’s foil, Italy’s Alessio Foconi earned a Senior World title.

But on Day 6 of the 2022 Fencing World Championships in Egypt, those two men faced off — the 22-year-old Itkin vs. the 32-year-old Foconi. And Itkin didn’t look a bit overwhelmed by the globe’s fourth-ranked fencer.

Itkin soundly defeated Foconi in the quarterfinals, 15-5, to secure a spot in the semifinals and guarantee a medal for Team USA. In the semifinals, Itkin battled hard against France’s Enzo Lefort but ultimately lost on a 14-14 touch that was so close it required the referee to consult the video replay for about 15 seconds.

The bronze is Itkin’s first career medal at a Senior Worlds and comes a day after Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) earned bronze in the women’s foil individual event. These two medals were part of a four-medal showing for Team USA — its best performance at a Senior Worlds since 2018.

A PAIR OF SILVERS IN THE TEAM EVENTS

With two individual bronzes already secured, attention turned to the team events, where squads representing their home countries square off across nine rounds of high-energy excitement.

In women’s foil, Team USA’s squad featured two talented Olympians and two exciting newcomers entering as underdogs against a French team that won silver in this event at the Tokyo Olympics just a year earlier.

And if that wasn’t daunting enough, the team’s star was Ysa ora Thibus, who had won the individual world title just three days prior.

While the matchup might have favored the French on paper, Team USA came to fence with determination.

Thanks to strong performances by the quartet of Kiefer, Jackie Dubrovich (Maplewood, N.J.), Maia Weintraub (Philadel

phia, Pa.) and Zander Rhodes (South Orange, N.J.), Team USA pulled off the upset, 45-35, to guarantee themselves a medal.

In the finals, Team USA’s bid for a second consecutive upset fell short in a 45-27 defeat to top-seeded Italy, securing a silver medal.

On the tournament’s final day, it was time for the men’s foil team to step-up. And they did exactly that, ending the tournament on an exclamation point with a silver medal.

The feat is made even more spectacular by what it took to even get to the finals.

In the semifinals against France, which entered the tournament as the world’s second-ranked men’s foil team, the Americans got off to a slow start. After four of the nine rounds were complete, Team USA trailed 20-14, and momentum seemed squarely with the French.

That’s when Chase Emmer (Morristown, N.J.) took his turn in the fifth round.

Staring him down behind the tricolor mask of France was Lefort, who just three days earlier had won a World Championship in men’s foil.

Lefort is 30, and Emmer is 18.

But this time, Emmer got the better of the three-time Olympian, out scoring Lefort 9-5.

That big number cut France’s lead to 25-23. After Massialas and France’s Pierre Loisel each scored five touches, Emmer returned to the strip again.

This time, the matchup was against Maximilien Chastanet, who won the 2016 NCAA championship with Ohio State. Again, Emmer — who will attend Notre Dame this fall — outscored his more experienced opponent. The 7-4 round for Emmer gave the Americans a 35-34 lead after seven rounds.

The eighth round went to Notre Dame graduate Itkin, 5-4, extending Team USA’s lead to 40-38 entering the final round.

France had chosen Lefort for its anchor leg, with Team USA sending Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) to the strip.

In the race to 45, Massialas didn’t need to win the round. He just needed to score five points before Lefort could score seven.

TOP: NICK ITKIN FIGHTS FOR THE GOLD IN THE FINALS OF MEN’S TEAM FOIL AGAINST ITALY.

SECOND: TEAM USA MEN’S FOIL MEDALISTS WITH TEAM MATES AND USA FENCING STAFF AND COACHES.

THIRD: HONOR JOHNSON AND TEAM USA WINNING THEIR WAY INTO THE QUARTERFINALS OF WOMEN’S TEAM SABER AGAINST CANADA.

FOURTH: TEAM USA WOMEN’S SABER CADRE.

SILVER FOR MEN’S TEAM FOIL! SHOWN HERE: CHASE EMMER AND ALEXANDER MASSIALAS

After an exciting stretch of back-and-forth fencing, Lefort established a 44-43 lead. France needed just one more touch to send Team USA to the bronze medal match.

Massialas tied it at 44. Then, with Team USA fans holding their collective breath, Massialas bent low and leaned to his right to score a touch that evaded Lefort’s defenses. The green light went on, the touch was confirmed by video review, and Team USA erupted with excitement — knowing that another medal was confirmed.

In the gold medal match against top-ranked Italy, Team USA’s bid for another upset fell short in the 45-39 loss. It was an identical scenario to the one from 24 hours earlier, when the Team USA women’s foil team upset France in the semifinals and lost to Italy in the finals.

It must be pointed out that this was quite a tournament for Team USA’s foil teams, led by Men’s Foil National Coach Greg Massialas and Women’s Foil National Coach Ralf Bissdorf. Team USA medaled in all four foil events in Cairo.

•SILVER | WOMEN’S FOIL — TEAM

Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)

Jackie Dubrovich (Maplewood, N.J.)

Maia Weintraub (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Zander Rhodes (South Orange, N.J.)

•SILVER | MEN’S FOIL TEAM

Nick Itkin (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Chase Emmer (Morristown, N.J.)

Gerek Meinhardt (Lexington, Ky.)

Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)

•BRONZE | WOMEN’S FOIL

Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)

•BRONZE | MEN’S FOIL

Nick Itkin (Los Angeles, Calif.)

TEAM USA WOMEN’S EPEE TEAM IN CAIRO.

TEAM USA WOMEN’S SABER TEAM IN CAIRO.

Fencing

RCC

YEISSER

U.S. ARMORERS IRENE EDGERTON AND DAN DECHAINE

The USA Fencing community remembers Dan DeChaine, who served as Team USA armorer at four Olympic Games and numerous Junior and Senior World Championships, World University Games and Pan American Games. He died on May 20, 2022, at the age of 87.

Dan Dechaine

BY JOHN HEIL

PART ONE

I remember rooming with Buckie Leach and Dan DeChaine at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center for a training camp. Given the past year’s events, this is a particularly fond memory. Dan was “resting” in bed – with shoes and tie on, shirt buttoned. And Buckie was Buckie.

Dan was a most cordial and pleasant man who appreciated his work, a good cigar, a cool beer, the beat of fencing, the repartee of friends and his wife, Myra. I don’t remember the first time I met Dan, but it was a long time ago, which is a good fortune I share with many others.

I remember him as the wise gentlemen he was. But I also know of the young man who stole his wife, Myra, from music legend Kris Kristofferson (who is a Rhodes scholar, by the way).

Dan was not ordinarily inclined to talk of these things, but some beer, maybe even a cigar and a little prodding can go a long way. Speaking of cigars, you might be interested to know that Dan was something of a closet Cuban nationalist. In fact, he was some thing of a nationalist for anywhere there are good people in op pressive circumstances. No doubt this relates to his many friends around the world who are citizens of the fencing nation.

Dan saw a remarkably long tenure in this international game, which is no accident. To say he had been around the fencing world hardly makes the point. This is the guy who approved Richard Chamberlain (the hero of Shogun) for his college credits in fencing. Dan spoke several languages, although he was not sure where or how he learned them. In his classic manner of under statement, he told me of being at SEMI meeting (the FIE armorers’ group) and after listening to someone speak German for about 15 minutes it started to make sense to him, really.

TOP: ANOTHER ONE OF DAN’S ADVENTURES. BOTTOM: CALVERT DELMAR, CARL BORACK AND DAN DECHAINE

Bear in mind that Dan’s day job for years was at NASA. He worked on design projects and wrote technical manuals. I have never got around to asking if he was a “rocket scientist,” but it appears that NASA kept him busy for years doing one thing or another that rocket scientists needed. While sports science is not rocket science, I was pleased to have a rocket scientist on the Sport Science Committee.

Dan insisted for many years on traveling with a lot of gear and gadgets of all kinds, including an anvil vice. This once led me to be temporarily credentialed as his assistant armorer for the World Championships in Cuba. Traveling internationally with gear with all sorts of wire and gauges is a bit nerve racking, so Dan gave me I got a crash course on what does what and such, which I of course promptly forgot.

All this from a guy whose idea of heaven was wiring fencing blades. Dan, thanks for everything. You can take your tie off now.

DAN THE FENCER, DAN THE ARMORER, “DAN THE MAN”

Read This Oregon Fencer’s Scholarship-Winning Essay

Saber fencer Megumi Oishi won a $4,000 scholarship from Absolute Fencing. Here’s her winning essay.

Editor’s Note: Megumi Oishi started fencing in 2013. She represents PDX Fenc ing Club of Beaverton, Ore., and won one of four scholarships as a member of the Absolute Fencing Gear All-Academic Team. Claire Randall, co-owner of PDX Fencing, says “Her achievement of many years of dedicated practice, touched on in the article, realized her dream of getting recruited to a fencing team in a toplevel university. She was accepted at Northwestern, finished her high school with top honors, was a class valedictorian and won and medals at this year’s Summer Nationals (team women’s saber silver medal and bronze in Div 1A saber).”

Oh, god. I look hideous. I stand in front of the mirror, staring blankly at myself. It’s freshman year, and I’m painfully aware of my appearance at all times (surprise, surprise). My white sweatshirt, emblazoned with my dream college’s name on it, makes for a great top – but the white tennis skirt that I’ve kept in my closet looks awful. My legs are like tree trunks and covered with spot marks and bruises from fencing. They look short, stocky, stubby. I sigh and change out of the skirt, crumple it up and tuck it away.

The first time that I grew acutely aware of my athletic build was when I first entered high school. I was focused on getting recruited to college, and I trained every day after school and went to tour naments. I wore tank tops, skirts and shorts to school, just like everyone else.

My school friends were all very similar – tall, long-legged and gener ally avoided sports. They commented on how cool it was that I fenced but generally didn’t take much interest in the specifics of the sport. What they were interested in was how my body looked.

They began to comment on how “stocky” and “short” my legs were, marveled at how “manly” my shoulders looked in tank tops and laughed at how my legs were two different sizes. At first, I paid no mind to their comments, but the frequency at which they came at me started to bother me, eventually eating away at my self-confi dence. Hence, the tennis skirt – they got a kick out of that one, too, and even threw in a nice gag about how my legs turned out like a man when I walked. The revelation hit me like a bus in junior year biology class. I sat, half-listening to the teacher’s evolution lecture over Zoom, when something she said caught my attention.

“These animals,” she explained, “have bodies whose structures fit their function. See this cat in the diagram here? His leg bones are designed to absorb shock so that he can live the life that he is meant to live.”

There it was. Structure fits function!

Since that biology class, I have internalized the fact that my body will always be different from others because of the function that I have assigned to it.

My “thunder thighs” have transformed into strong, powerful legs that are pushing me towards my goals of being a collegiate athlete, which I was able to achieve.

My “manly” arms allow me to hit my opponents faster than ever be fore. Also, it occurred to me that it was strange that I wasn’t afraid to hit people with swords but terrified of wearing skirts, so that has been fixed, too. Never in my life would I have guessed that biology class would boost my body image, but structure fits function – I may have big ger arms and thighs than everyone, but then again, not everyone can sword fight.

the point

WOMEN IN FENCING

By Karolyn Szot

Baby Riposte Fencing While Pregnant

My obstetrician responded with, “Whatever exercise you are used to doing. It’s good to keep up with the same active routine.”

“Perfect!” I thought. “I fence and walk my dog,” I mentioned to her.

Of course, the immediate follow-up question was, “You build fences?” Naturally, I explained the sport of fencing to my doctor, to which she responded, “You should be fine. Maybe just avoid getting hit in the stomach.”

“What? Yikes! Umm, that’s not possible,” I remember thinking.

Not only do I fence foil, but I also coach at my club and teach private lessons. How would I be able to do blade drills with people?

This would be tough because I didn’t want to tell anyone I was pregnant during my first trimester. I was worried my students would want to go somewhere else if they thought I was going to leave them or not give them the full-body benefit of an active lesson with bladework.

When I was first thinking about writing this article, I wasn’t yet pregnant. I was searching for answers online to see whether there have been other fencers who have fenced during pregnancy. I reached out to a few fencers, but some declined to speak on the

matter because every woman’s pregnancy is different. And perhaps they were fearful of giving advice that might not work out for a different person. Some people really struggle with pregnancy, while others feel great and continue to be active. There are no set rules, and it’s understandable why athletes wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending fencing while pregnant.

Peggy Chin, USA Fencing’s director of sports medicine, told me: “Keeping in mind that fencing is a combat sport, the decision to continue to fence while pregnant is an individual choice, coupled with a discussion with the OB/GYN about the best path forward. The decision to continue to proceed while pregnant is a conversation between patient and primary doctor.”

On the one hand, my OB/GYN told me I needed to continue with my normal exercise routine, but on the other hand, I never put together that my normal routine was competitively getting poked in my torso for the past 20 years. What I ended up doing was not exactly doctor-recommended, but I got the thumbs-up to move forward. This is how I proceeded with coaching during my first trimester.

I focused my lessons more on footwork tactics and developed point-control drills where I placed numbers on a dummy I made. The numbers were all located in different high and low lines of the

torso. I then had my students hit the areas of the target from different distances when I called out the numbers. I’ve been incorporating this coaching aid frequently during my lessons.

When it came time for blade drills, and again, proceed at your own risk, I fixed an extra male chest plate around my abdomen area. This was actually really effective for me. I didn’t get hit in my tummy, and I was able to proceed with my lessons without thinking about being pregnant. It something that worked for me but might not work for others. Unfortunately, I did make the decision to give up competitive open fencing and personally just stuck with footwork and point-control exercises.

When I got pregnant, the first thing I asked my doctor was, what kind of exercise can I do?

Peggy also said: “As I have not had any interactions with pregnant fencers, based on my experiences with the sport, modification of activity is always key. As one moves further into their third trimester, on-strip activity such as lessons with bladework and footwork would be safe. I would caution against any deep lunging or bouting during this time.”

Now that I have reached my second trimester, I am retiring the second chest plate. My students still have no idea I am pregnant, but for safety and having my students feel comfortable, I am once again modifying my lessons. I have already begun doing only semiprivates with myself and two other students. Now I am having them do bladework and drills against each other, and from the side, I fix their form and give coaching advice.

It’s been difficult to adjust my personal routine. Jumping into pregnancy, there is a lot of personal sacrifice you don’t think about when running quickly against your biological clock. I want to do it all: fence, coach, socialize, be pregnant, and not have friends, students, co-workers, etc., want to subconsciously limit my abilities or pass me up for opportunities. However, what I realized is modification isn’t saying no to a lesson or even a bout. It’s just simply changing it up and adapting how you’re doing something. It’s about making it safe for baby but also giving fencers another challenge or a new way of thinking about their lesson.

This has proven to be quite helpful to my current students. Often, I think coaches might get stuck in the same routine on how they teach, and perhaps by taking themselves out of the drilling, it might make for a better drill.

I asked Peggy if she had any other health tips she might give women who are pregnant. She said: “Eat a well-balanced diet that includes healthy carbs, fats and protein is key. Avoid processed foods high in sugar. Increase caloric intake and eating at regular intervals. Hydrate well with water and avoid electrolytes high in sugar. Consider consulting a nutritionist who specializes in women’s health when making modifications to diet while pregnant or planning to be.”

It’s too bad my fencing club is right next to a pizza place — and a really good pizza place at that! These are all important things to consider, however. The more I can do now, the more triumphant my return to the strip will be after welcoming our new baby. He or she will hopefully want to become an all-star fencer! We’ll be doing a lot of point control with baby toys.

point

PARENTS' CORNER

by Jenny Petite

Why Failure is a Good Thing

HOW I LEARNED TO TAKE THE FEAR OUT OF FAILURE

Now that my children are grown and my nest is empty, I have ample time to reflect on their rearing. As a fencing parent, I wish I would have allowed my son to embrace his failures in fencing with less interference. Although no one has ever accused me of being a helicopter mother, I think I may have helped my son sidestep the school of hard knocks a few too many times, consequently contributing to his lack of drive, stamina and confidence in his ability.

When my son competed, I would be so concerned about his being upset because of a loss that I would quickly swoop in, rallying behind him to help him cope and offering my solutions. In hindsight, this kept him from creating his own solutions, determination and resilience that go far beyond the fencing strip. Just as it is necessary for a mother bird to push her baby out of the nest even though they may come crash ing down to the ground, it is important for us as parents to allow our children to feel the burn of failure.

Here are some reasons why failure is so important:

1. Failing teaches coping skills and problem solving, which is needed when your athlete faces adversity on and off the strip.

2. Seeing failure as an opportunity to learn teaches your athlete to deal with emotional setbacks in a healthy manner, allowing your athlete to grow mentally and emotionally.

3. Failing can facilitate the potential for your athlete to build an excellent work ethic.

4. Failure gives your athlete a reason to work harder to achieve their goals.

5. Failure will help your athlete become more conscious about their performance, forcing them to analyze their per formance and figure out where they need to improve.

So now that we are thinking of failure in a more optimistic light, what are some ideas for handling it as a parent?

1. Remain neutral. Your athlete should never feel like they let you down, this is their fight – not yours.

2. Although it is not always fun, and we may not want others to see our child sulk or be ticked off, allow them to feel the frustration and anguish for a bit. Step away and let them feel the loss completely on their own.

3. When they approach you, agree it is not fun to lose and be disappointed, but do not be tempted to try to make them feel better. A casual “s--- happens” approach will teach your child to see that failure is a common experience.

4. When a significant amount of time has passed, broach fencing in conversation without bringing up the substandard performance. If they do, ask questions like, “what do you think went wrong?”, “what can you do about it?” or “is there anything you can do to prepare for your next competition?” Asking questions versus telling them what to do will help your athlete find their own way to resolve the issue, cope and strategize.

5. This is also an excellent time to bond. When the wound has healed a bit, tell them about a time you failed, tell them how disappointed you were, how you responded, make light of it, what you did for resolve, if you made improve ment. This can normalize failure, and take the fear out of it, enabling your child to continue to push through and improve.

I know we want our children to always have positive experi ences, but the realities of life guarantee this is not the case. If we help our athletes see these as opportunities for growth, we allow them to create and find tools to confront, excel and rise above adversity.

the point TECH TALK

Editor’s Note: Ted Li, our regular Tech Talk columnist and USA Fencing armorer, shared this article written in 1980 by USA Fencing’s revered and long-time elite armorer, Dan DeChaine, who died on May 20. Also see his obituary on the USA Fencing website.

MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

By Daniel DeChaine, Armorer, 1983 Pan American Team

T he mixed blessing of the electric weapon has brought with it the problem of maintenance, and this chore has fallen most often to the coach. In many cases, what should reasonably be a routine situation has turned into a major problem. With a few simple maintenance procedures, it should be possible in most cases to reverse this process and change the problem back into a routine situation.

T he proper care and feeding of your equipment is a basic requirement and, without this, your system can sometimes sicken and die. It is actually easy, with a little common sense, to avoid this disaster and to get the maximum use from your equipment before having to call in the doctor.

First things first. Equipment must not simply function, but it must function correctly, e.g., in conformance with specifi cations. A rule book and an understanding of its contents is absolutely mandatory. Just as important is having the correct tools. Your tool kit may be simple, but should contain the following as a minimum: jewelers’ screwdriver (preferably magnetized, with a tip width of approx. 1.5mm), small screwdriver (1/8”-3/16” blade), large screwdriver (ap prox. 3/8” blade), pair of pliers, wire cutters, X-Aacto knife (with #11 blades), small scissors, cotton swabs, ¾” tape, plastic tubing (#16 or #18), taps and dies (1 each #’s 12-24 & 6mm), files (1 rat-tail 3/16”, 1 square ¼”, 2 flat single cuts: 8” and 12”), contact cleaner (NOT WD-40), outside hex wrench(es): 6, 8, or 9mm (depending on pommels used), #420 ChannelLock or equivalent, soldering gun, resin-core solder, blade glue (Duco household cement is OK, but not airplane glue), hacksaw, rolled-leather mallet, small ballhead hammer, table vise (4”-5” jaw), emery cloth (medium or medium-fine).

T his is a very basic selection and should be augmented to meet individual needs, based upon specific types of equip ment in use. Also, depending upon the size of the class or the number of weapons in use, a bench grinder might prove invaluable. As to spare parts, one thing must be kept in mind: in most cases (tips especially) parts are not interchangeable between manufacturers. Attempts to use a spring or screw from brand X in a brand Y tip will likely render the tip (and weapon) useless. The word to the wise

here is “standardize.” Of course this is not always possible, but it is advisable to make every attempt to stick with a single brand in order to keep the smallest possible stock of spares. A minimum list of spare parts would include a few points, springs, screws, wires, barrels, pommels and contact springs for epee. The usage of the weapons and their number will determine the size of the stock of spares. In addition to the above list, a few guard connectors with their security straps or clips are advisable, and don’t forget spare fuses and bulbs for your machines.

L ast but certainly not least is testing equipment. Each school must have some sort of a testing apparatus, prefer ably with lights, which will give an instantaneous readout of any condition of the weapon or cable. An audible signal is advantageous in the tester so that when the tip is being tested or repaired, you need not always be looking at the tester. Also, a set of weights and tip travel gauges is a requirement for any school that intends to enter competi tions.

Edited and Submitted by Ted Li