USA Fencing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With all the medals counted and fencing completed, Team USA’s 2023 Veteran World team can proudly proclaim that they were the best there’s ever been.

Team USA finished without a medal on Monday — the sixth and final day of the 2023 FIE Veteran Fencing World Championships — but the entire squad of 72 Americans has plenty to be proud of.

The team set a Vet Worlds record with 24 total medals — including 13 gold (also a record). 

The list of Team USA world champions (found below) included a Women’s Saber sweep, made possible by American athletes winning gold in the 50-59, 60-69 and 70+ age categories. The tournament also crowned team champions, with countries forming teams of up to six, with representatives from each age category.

Across the six-day tournament, Team USA fans heard the “Star-Spangled Banner” again and again, celebrating gold medals across all weapons and age categories. 

Team USA also won three of the six team events: Women’s Saber, Men’s Saber and Men’s Epee. Among the athletes on the Women’s Saber squad was Julie Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club), who won a team-high four medals at the tournament: individual gold in Vet-50 Women’s Foil and Vet-50 Women’s Saber, team gold in Women’s Saber and team silver in Women’s Foil.

Our most successful individual event was Vet-70 Women’s Saber, where Team USA picked up a near-sweep, winning gold, silver and one of the bronze medals.

Next up for these vivacious Veterans: the January North American Cup in San Jose, Calif., where the Vet Age and Vet Combined categories will be contested. Veterans (and those who support them) are also invited to the 2024 USA Fencing Veteran Awards Dinner on Jan. 6. Tickets are available now.

After that, the Veteran events will be contested at the April 2024 NAC in Salt Lake City and Summer Nationals in Columbus.

The athletes who perform the best at these tournaments will qualify for the 2024 Veteran World team and travel to Dubai for next year’s Vet Worlds.

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion

• Julie Seal, Vet-50 Women’s Foil

• Jennette Starks-Faulkner, Vet-60 Women’s Foil

• Mark Lundborg, Vet-60 Men’s Saber

• Joseph Streb, Vet-70 Men’s Saber

• Julie Seal, Vet-50 Women’s Saber

• Lydia Fabry, Vet-60 Women’s Saber

• Jane Eyre, Vet-70 Women’s Saber

• Jon Normile, Vet-50 Men’s Epee

• Liz Kocab, Vet-70 Women’s Epee

• Thomas Lutton, Vet-70 Men’s Foil

Silver

• Jane Carter, Vet-50 Women’s Foil

• Robin Pernice, Vet-60 Women’s Saber

• Jeannine Bender, Vet-70 Women’s Saber

Bronze

• Anne-Marie Walters, Vet-60 Women’s Foil

• Jude Offerle, Vet-70 Women’s Foil

• Linda Dunn, Vet-70 Women’s Saber

• Steven Heck, Vet-60 Men’s Saber

• Garik Gutman, Vet-70 Men’s Saber

• Walter Dragonetti, Vet-60 Men’s Epee

• Lotte Bowie, Vet-70 Women’s Epee

Team Events: Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champions

• Men’s Saber Team: USA (Steve Dashnaw, Garik Gutman, Steven Heck, Mark Lundborg, Joseph Streb and Ron Thornton)

• Women’s Saber Team: USA (Jeannine Bender, Frauke Berman, Jane Eyre, Lydia Fabry, Robin Pernice, Julie Seal)

• Men’s Epee Team: USA (Joe Deucher, Walt Dragonetti, Fred Frank, James Newsome, Jon Normile, Charlie Schneider)

Team Events: Silver

• Women’s Foil Team: USA (Jane Carter, Jude Offerle, Julie Seal, Jennette Starks-Faulkner, Deb Theriault and Anne-Marie Walters)

Vet Women’s Epee Team

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion: Germany (Frauke Hohlbein, Astrid Kircheis, Carolin Marheineke, Barbel Gorius, Sonja Tippelt, Ute Schiffmann)

Silver: Hungary (Monika Arnold, Ibolya Hoffmann, Ernone Kolczonay, Judith Hendricks)

Bronze: France (Corinne Aubailly, Carole Charroy, Myriam Malucelli, Annick Martin, Brigitte Martin, Florence Pagny)

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 4th: USA (Charlotta Bowie, Georgina Love, Ann Marie Totemeier, Sharrie Zafft, Liz Kocab, Amy Montoya)

Vet Men’s Foil Team

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion:France (Bertrand Beaurenault, Didier Contrepois, Stephane Huerto, Cyril Lacroix , Claude Le Monnier, Emmanuel Shapira)

Silver: Italy (Marco Bosio, Riccardo Carmina, Fabio Di Russo, Fabio Miraldo, Filippo Pesce, Gianluca Ragg)

Bronze: Japan (Kenichi Hinoshita, Masayoshi Kondoh, Naoki Takeda, Kenichi Umezawa, Yutaka Yamazaki, Keiichiro Yokota)

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6th: USA (Stephen Gross, Rafael Suarez, Nathan Anderson, Joseph Biebel, Thomas Lutton, John Lawrence)

Find Day 6 photos on the USA Fencing Facebook page.

Find video from the tournament on the FIE YouTube channel.