Jake Mrozewski | For the Phoenix

Andrew Zimmerman (right) competes in the épée at the Lamb Miller Fieldhouse on Sunday.

BY DANNY FRIEL

In print | Published February 12, 2009

While most Swarthmore students spent Sunday reflecting on their weekends and beginning to prepare for another week of classes, the Swarthmore club fencing team hosted the Southern Atlantic Conference Fencing Championship at the Lamb Miller Field House.

The competition, called SAC for short, is the largest of four regional tournaments used to seed competitors in the upcoming United States Association of Collegiate Fencing Clubs Championship at the University of Wisconsin on April 4-5. The conference includes all 13 participant institutions from New York to Florida —Clemson University, East Carolina University, University of Florida, James Madison University, Lehigh University, U.S. Naval Academy, University of Pittsburgh, SUNY Stony Brook, University of Tennessee, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic University and the College of William and Mary, in addition to host Swarthmore.

The tournament was held over the course of two days. The women competed at Strath Haven Middle School on Saturday, while competition resumed on Sunday as the men took to the floor in the field house. The 2009 SAC tournament marks the first time Swarthmore has ever hosted a major collegiate fencing tournament. The squad has already begun preparations for hosting the national tournament in 2010.

In the meantime, Swarthmore has established itself as a force inside the ring as well. Last weekend saw a number of Swarthmore students win medals — which culminated in a combined finish of second place overall. Swarthmore won the women’s team title outright on the strength of an individual épée victory by Meggie Ladlow ’09. The sabre and foil teams also fenced well; each trio came away with a bronze medal finish. Natasha Tonge ’11 won a bronze medal in the individual sabre competition.

The men also fared well and were led by a championship winning performance in the team foil competition. Doug Woos ’11 highlighted the individual performances by winning a silver medal in the individual foil bracket. Woos looks to build on this performance by medaling in the individual foil at the national tournament. If Woos medals at nationals, it will be the second year in a row he has done so, after winning Swarthmore’s first national medal in 2008. Robert Mohr ‘09 also earned an individual medal for Swarthmore — a bronze in the individual sabre competition. Meanwhile, the Swarthmore men finished second in the team sabre competition.

Aside from individual prizes, the tournament holds team competitions in each of the three weapons — foil, sabre and épée . Fletcher Coleman ’09 explained that each team competition consists of early round robin tournaments that determine which teams will advance to the final elimination bracket. Each match entails a best-of-nine series between two schools. Each school enters a three-person team, so that each fencer will face each of three opponents by the end of nine bouts. “There is a little bit of strategy to it,” Coleman added, pointing out that if a team puts its weakest fencer last (so that he plays in the third, sixth and ninth bouts), it could be crucial to win five matches early. Whatever the approach, every match is critical in accumulating team victories, as illustrated by the depth of the Swarthmore squads last weekend.

Even though the team’s success can be measured by counting pieces of hardware, members of the team are just as gratified by gaining other sorts of recognition. “It was a chance to expose the Swarthmore community to fencing,” Tonge said of the tournament. Tonge expressed concern over the perception among students of fencing as a “marginalized sport”, but was pleased to learn that a number of supportive friends “ended up finding a new appreciation” for the skills and accomplishments of their classmates.

Indeed, the atmosphere in the field house was not one that the average sports fan might expect to find at a fencing tournament. “The electricity in the crowd seemed more like a football or basketball game than a fencing match,” head coach Marshal Davis said of the crowd, composed of students, family members of the athletes and fencing enthusiasts from the Swarthmore community and beyond.

The fencers will host a dual meet next month against Haverford College, a team that has varsity status and is thus recognized by the NCAA. Mohr explained that due to the club status of fencing at Swarthmore, the athletes receive funding only from SBC. “We pay for our own plane tickets and equipment,” Mohr said, unphased by the hardship.

As a competition approaches on the calendar, the team shifts focus in practice to concentrate more on bouting (fencing against one person, as if in competition) rather than on drills such as footwork. Mohr cited “developing instincts” as a goal of early and mid-season preparations, noting that repetition can make good form second-nature in competition, a seemingly universal strategy among sports. Perhaps fencing isn’t so marginal after all.

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