Ready, Fence! Day 1 of World Championships

The World Championships of Fencing kicked off today in Antalya, Turkey with preliminary rounds of women’s saber and men’s foil.  Only 4 US fencers competed today and all of them advanced to the round of 64: Daria Schneider (3-2 in pools, advanced), Dagmara Wozniak (3-2 in pools, advance), Miles Chamley Watson (4-2 in pools, advanced) and Alex Massailis (4-1, advanced)

Olympic Champion Mariel Zagunis, Monica Aksamit, Kurt Getz and Gerek Meinhart all had byes.    The format this year is slightly adjusted.  The preliminary rounds for each event are happening followed by a 2 day break before the tableau of 64.

This is the most amount of US fencers in the top-16 in history.  Many US fencers put up strong results this year, but a number of intriguing factors upped those numbers.  First, the Asian Zonal is being held after worlds so the FIE removed their points dropping most of them drastically given that competitions value to the world ranking.    Second, Monica Aksamit was ranked 17th, but #5 in the world Tan is not competing here with rumors of conflict with her coach Christian Bauer being the reason.  This moved her up to 16th and a bye.  The 6’6 Wang, China’s anchor in the team event is not competing as well with similar rumors abounding about his absence.

Tomorrow, women’s foil and men’s epee will be competing in the preliminary rounds.   Stay tuned here for stories, www.twitter.com/timmorehouse for live results and fencing.net for more stories!

Metro Sports NY Story on Olympian Tim Morehouse Online

Don’t Fence Him In

Written by Sarah Wassner Flynn
Posted Apr 13, 2009
 
When Fencer Tim Morehouse collected a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, he joined an exclusive club of Manhattanites who have stood atop an Olympic podium.

Getting there involved much more than just swords and swashbuckling, however—Morehouse and his teammates train hard outside the strip, with conditioning programs similar to that of many endurance athletes. We recently chatted with the 30-year-old to find out more about his workouts—and how he plans to bring sexy back to his sport. (Read More)

Team USA Cadets and Juniors Winning Medals at World Championships In Belfast!

Prescod vs Kiefer in Cadet Womens Foil - From FencingPhotos.com

Our Cadets and Juniors are doing a fantastic job at the Cadet/Junior World Championships in Belfast!!

Check out www.fencing.net for great coverage and details! (Go Craig Harkins!)

Congratulations to all our Cadets and Juniors as well as their families for all their hard work and sacrifice to qualify!  Special congratulations to our new world champions and medalists!