BUCKS
COUNTY ACADEMY OF FENCING
TAKES MEDALS AT NATIONAL COMPETITION
Fifteen junior and senior level fencers from
the Bucks County Academy of Fencing in New Hope, PA vied for top honors at the
annual Summer National Championships of the United States Fencing Association,
at the Palmetto Expo Center in Greenville, South Carolina, June 28 to July 7.
The USFA is the national governing body of the Olympic sport of fencing.
Summer Nationals is a festival of fencing, the final major tournament
culminating a season filled with competition.
Over 2,500 fencers from 49 states contested the Championship title in 66
individual events and 12 team competitions.
The fencers from the Bucks County Academy of
Fencing (BCAF) had to compete for each of the competitions through qualifying
events in either the Philadelphia or New Jersey Divisions and the Mid-Atlantic
Section of the USFA in order to go to the nationals.
The Championships are competitions of the best fencers from throughout
the United States.
The individual events ranged from 43 to 264
entries, and the 15 fencers from the BCAF produced 7 finalists and medallists.
Cameron Sprowles, from New Hope, PA turned in the first
result of the week for the BCAF, who finished 6th out of 264 entries
in the Division III Men’s Foil, the largest event of the Championships.
This was followed by Dagmara Wozniak of Avenel, NJ, who took the
gold medal in the Division II Women’s Sabre event. Dagmara continued her sterling performance through the week
by becoming the Division 1-A Women’s Sabre Silver Medallist and the Under-16
Women’s Sabre National Champion. Nick
Marchuk, from Ringoes, NJ, finished 7th out of 203 entries in
the Division II Men’s Foil. BCAF
instructor Al Kovacs, from Clinton, NJ, took the bronze medal in the
Veteran Men’s Sabre, and Mark Kindrachuk, from Allentown, PA, took 6th
in the Division III Men’s Sabre.
BCAF head Fencing Master, Mark Holbrow, said
this Nationals was one of the strongest ever. “The depth and classification level throughout the various
division levels was the strongest I’ve ever seen. We had a number of fencers who were competing in their first
nationals, and I was very pleased with our performance,” he said.
Fencing is one of the original Olympic sports. Not only was fencing an event in the first modern Olympic games in 1896, but was also contested in the ancient Games of Greece. Fencing is a lifelong sport; competitors at the Summer Nationals, for example, ranged in age from 7 to 88. It is a contest not only of speed but strategy and experience. For more information on the Bucks County Academy of Fencing, go to www.bcaf.com, or call 215-862-5365.
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Jeremy Schmid (BCAF Road
Coach) New
Hope, PA
