# 5400 Olympic style fencers will compete in Columbus, OH at Summer Nationals



## Melensdad

I know I'm the only "fencing" geek here on the forums but I'm going to be at the national championships in Columbus, OH with a group of my fencers.

The largest US fencing competition ever will be taking place.  Competition starts on Friday June 28 and runs until July 7.  5400 nationally ranked fencers will gather to compete in Saber, Epee and Foil events.  The events are divided by male and female categories.  They are further divided by national ranking and also by age group.  

Division 1 is the top level.  I have 1 student in Div 1.  It is the group that includes Olympians and National Team members.  Next down is Div 1-a.  Below that is Div 2 and then Div 3.  But to confuse everyone, the JUNIOR category includes many Div 1 and Div 1-a fencers so its a hybrid category that is probably more competitive than Div 1-a.  There is also CADET, which is age limited to kids below 16 years old, and again also includes a few Div 1 and Div 1-a fencers, but not very many so its clearly below the JUNIOR event.

College recruiters hunt the JUNIOR event as roughly 1/2 that event includes the best high school students in the US.


Dasha, my Russian fencer, will compete in Division 1 and Junior Women's Saber
Lexi, my former Lowell H.S. team captain, will compete in Junior Women's Saber
Chrissi, one of my college students, competes in Div 3 Women's Saber
Dominic, one of my Marian students, competes in Men's Team, Div 1-a & Div 2 Men's Epee
Mateo, another Marian student, competes in Div 2 and Div 3 Men's Saber
All of the above are members at my Northwest Indiana Fencing Club.

I'll have a bunch of friends from the RedStar club in Chicago fencing.  I have been adopted by RedStar as my club really doesn't have a major competitive presence on the national scene and some of the coaches at RedStar help coach some of my students.  So me and my students will gather with the RedStar group when we are in the competition hall.  They all know each other.  All practice together.  RedStar will likely have about 20+ competitors at the event.  My club will have a total of 6, the 5 listed above and 1 described at the bottom of this post.

The lovely Mrs_Bob and I will pick Dasha up at the airport on Thursday as she is coming in from California where she is with Melen and is attending a fencing camp at Stanford University.  Dasha is staying with us during our time in Columbus.  The other students will be staying with their parents.  I will only be at the competition through July 1, which is also the last day that Dasha will be at the event.  We put her on a plane to Boston.  

I've got 3 of my high school students meeting college recruiters at the event.  Dasha, Dominic and Mateo.  Those 3 are hunting scholarships.  Dasha & Dominic have the best chances of eventually getting scholarships.  Mateo has an outride shot.  Lexi & Chrissi are already in college.  Lexi is on a scholarship because of her fencing.

My Northwest Indiana Fencing Club has 1 more competitor attending.  She is the coach for the Marian team and is competing in the Veterans Women's Foil Age 50+ bracket.  She is the woman who despises me and who is also the main reason there was almost a walkout from the Marian Catholic team.  RedStar despises her.  She has not been invited to join the RedStar competitors in the hall.  None of my NIFC competitors want to hang out with her.  It will be interesting to see if there are any interactions with her.  She is arriving on July 1 and competes on July 2.  I will safely be gone when she competes but expect I will run into her on the floor while I'm coaching on July 1.


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## waybomb

So my screen shows "5400 Olympic style fencers" in the header on the main page.

Ya wanna know what I thought - I thought I was going to click on it and start reading "5400 Olympic style fencers walk into a bar....." type joke.

But hey - have a blast! It's not that far away either!


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## Melensdad

waybomb said:


> So my screen shows "5400 Olympic style fencers" in the header on the main page.
> 
> Ya wanna know what I thought - I thought I was going to click on it and start reading "5400 Olympic style fencers walk into a bar....." type joke.









> But hey - have a blast! It's not that far away either!


Hoping to get some kids on the scholarship radar and hoping to have fun too!  

The competition calendar this year (_July 2019 to July 2020_) is centered around the midwest so I may be making several trips?  Milwaukee, St Louis, Louisville are all destination cities for major events that are easily drivable.  

There are a few flight destinations that we probably won't bother attending.  But I'm guessing we will hit a couple of the drivable cities with some of the fencers.


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## waybomb

5400 is a huge event..The planning that has to go into that must be bruttal. Hats off to the organizers.


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## Melensdad

So for whatever it is worth the 2 fencers that I have to really watch are *Dominic* and *Dasha*.

*Dominic* is on a fantastic Men's Epee team.  They could do very well.  Maybe make it to the media round.  

*Dominic* is also in the Division 2 Men's individual Epee event, which is a mid-level event.  His Epee coach, a former Olympian, thinks he can win the Gold in Division 2.  Its likely that any Top 8 finish in the Div 2 Men's Epee will move him up to Div 1 status and change his ranking from a "C" to an "A" rated fencer.   Dominic has a self-confidence problem.  While I do not coach him in Epee, I do work with him on his confidence and attitude.  He's young.  He hasn't had too many people who believe in him so he needs to learn how to believe in himself.  He considers me one of his coaches, that flatters me, but it does give me some hope that I can help him.

*Dasha* is fencing in Div 1 and in Junior for Women's Saber.  Those are the 2 most competitive events.  She will have both Olympian and National Team members competing against her.  At 17 she shouldn't finish in the medals in either event.  I'm hoping she comes in at least the Top 32 in both.  I'd be beside myself if she moves into Top 16, and it is possible she could do that if her old skills have returned. She was Top 8 in Russia and a 2 time gold medalist in Team events so there is some hope. 

It will be interesting to see what happens.  I'm hopeful for both but not confident.

But with BOTH of these fencers, as skilled as they are, a bad day could knock them out early.  My daughter finished 2nd in 1 event and finished below the Top 32 in the next.  It happens that way.  I see some fencers have a good day and literally plow through their competitors.


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## Danang Sailor

Melensdad said:


> Hoping to get some kids on the scholarship radar and hoping to have fun too!
> 
> The competition calendar this year (_July 2019 to July 2020_) is centered around the midwest so I may be making several trips?  Milwaukee, St Louis, Louisville are all destination cities for major events that are easily drivable.
> 
> There are a few flight destinations that we probably won't bother attending.  But I'm guessing we will hit a couple of the drivable cities with some of the fencers.



Let me know when and where the St Louis event will take place.  That is a doable drive from here and I'd like to meet and see your fencers "at work".


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## Melensdad

Quick summary of our first competitive day:

Dominic finished 13th in Men’s Epee Team

Dasha pulled her thigh muscle, I had her at the medic to wrap it 10 minutes before she was competing. She easily made it into top 64.  Failed to get into 32.  I have not seen her fence for the past 5 weeks but I can see that her new coach in Boston is helping!  She will continue to regain the lost skills. 

Lexi did badly in the pools and was eliminated.  Not totally unexpected.  She was competing in a category that is above her skill level but it was the only time she could get away from her job.  I wish she would have competed in Div 2 or 3 as she would be very competitive in both of those divisions. 

Both the Notre Dame and the Stanford coaches spoke to me about Dasha.  Both like her.  Notre Dame said she is one of his top choices and that he found scholarship money for her.  That was exciting but almost expected news.  

I spoke with a coach from UIW in San Antonio about Dominic and he is highly interested.  Later Dominic spoke with the coach and apparently things went very well.  This is amazingly good news for Dom as UIW is one of his top 3 school choices.  The coach told me he has access to athletic & academic money available for Dom.  

My friend Charlie won the Silver medal yesterday too.


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## Melensdad

Sad day today as I watched a good friend retire from competitive fencing.  Didn’t go out on top, but finished 15th nationally so he can still kick butt and destroy 99.75% of the competitive fencers!  Not good enough to retain his spot competing on the international circuit and proof that age takes its toll on the body.  He’s 31.  Several years older than most serious competitors so he lasted longer than most.  He plans to transition to full time coaching.


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## Melensdad

Dasha just moved up in the tournament and is in the Top 32 of D1 (Olympic/National Team level).  

I hoped she would get this far in this event but I was unsure. 

I thought she could have made Top 32 in the Junior level but she didn’t.  This level is more competitive and she is fencing much better today.


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## Jim_S RIP

Melensdad said:


> Dasha just moved up in the tournament and is in the Top 32 of D1 (Olympic/National Team level).


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## Melensdad

My time at the Summer Nationals is over.  The event continues through Sunday.  I have kids fencing July 3, 4, and 5th in various events but will not be there for those events.


Yesterday Dasha was robbed by a referee with 4 seriously bad calls   I'm not saying that she would have won the bout.  But she lost 15-7 and those 4 bad calls would have resulted in an 11-11 and the bout would have continued until someone hit 15.  The directing was so bad that the OPPOSING COACH came and apologized to Dasha for the way the bout went.  I really hate blaming referees for a bout, but she was fencing amazingly well.  Plowing through competitors and her skills were finally showing up again.  It was a pleasure to watch.  Again, the outcome may have been a loss if there was a better referee but its clear these 4 calls changed the tempo of the bout and that can lead to a loss.  I have video of the entire bout and several serious national level directors want to review it _(it will not change anything, but either way I will feel better know)_

Dasha finished 26th in Div 1 Women's Saber.  Honestly that is a great result.  Notre Dame is hunting her with scholarships.  University of North Carolina watched her and met with her and is very impressed; that was their first contact with her.  Stanford is hunting her and is one of her top choices but they don't offer much money.  

Dominic finished 128th in Div 1-a Men's Epee.  Div 1-a is a step down from Div 1.  This was Dominic's first Summer National/National Championship exposure and while it seems like a finish of 128th is bad, its actually not too bad.  He also finished 12th in the Epee team event.  Dominic has another chance as he also qualifies for the Div 2 Men's Epee event and should be able to do very well in that event.  

Dominic is hunting a scholarship, which is a bit different than being hunted by a school.  However he seems to have impressed one Div 1 school.  Dom and I are working on getting him a scholarship to University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX.  The coach there is now aware of Dom and told me he has $$$$ available.  The school has a strong Epee team and Dom could enhance it.  Dom and the coach have spoken and that meeting went well.



ACTION SHOTS BELOW ... Dasha's 2 meter lunge wins a lot of bouts as she covers distance before a competitor knows what happened.  Her arm is cocked and her blade is about to slash across her opponent's chest.  Her opponent's blade is low and is in preparation.  Honestly I don't recall if the opponent was able to defend on this touch, but the score on the board shows Dasha up 4-0 and this was a 5 touch bout.  

Dominic in a low position reaching out to touch his opponent on the tip of the toe.  Getting hit by a "toe touch" is a humiliating experience for the victim and Dom is really good at doing it.  You can see the opponent's blade trying to get into position to parry (defend) against the toe touch but it appears to be too late for him!


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## Melensdad

DOMINIC just finished in the TOP 16

Scores are not official yet.  I calculate him in 15th place.  The scoring software shows him in 16th place, but lists it as tentative.  

Either way, a TOP 16 placement in HUGE


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## Melensdad

So Dominic's mom was supposed to take photos of the event.

In Dominic's corner helping coach him today during the competition was *US OLYMPIAN Jason Pryor* in addition to A rated Joe Guinan ... and his mom didn't take photos!!!  I mean she totally forgot to take any pictures.  NONE.  Her kid is in one of the toughest fencing competitions in the nation, being coached by one of the worlds best fencers and not a single photo was taken.

I'm dying.  I mean really?  WTF!!!


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## pirate_girl

Melensdad said:


> So Dominic's mom was supposed to take photos of the event.
> 
> In Dominic's corner helping coach him today during the competition was *US OLYMPIAN Jason Pryor* in addition to A rated Joe Guinan ... and his mom didn't take photos!!!  I mean she totally forgot to take any pictures.  NONE.  Her kid is in one of the toughest fencing competitions in the nation, being coached by one of the worlds best fencers and not a single photo was taken.
> 
> I'm dying.  I mean really?  WTF!!!



If that were my kid I'd be burning my camera up taking pictures.
Geesh!


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