USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA concluded the Veteran World Championships in Maribor, Slovenia with gold medal wins in the women’s team saber and men’s team epee events.

The double golds would secure Team USA’s position at the top of the medal standings with 18 overall medals, ahead of Germany with 16 and Italy with 12.

For the women’s saber team, the win would mark the squad’s third title win since the team event was introduced at the Veteran Worlds in 2014.

The six-member team included three medalists from the individual events and four past individual Vet World Champions.

Lydia Fabry (Simi Valley, Calif.), a 2015 individual Veteran World Champion who won silver on Friday, and 2016 Vet World team silver medalist Robin Pernice (Carlisle, Mass.) fenced in the 50-59 positions. After winning silver and bronze in the 60-69 events, four-time individual champion Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.) and six-time individual gold medalist Jane Eyre (Woolwich Township, N.J.) joined together to fence for Turner’s second team title and Eyre’s third. Three-time individual Vet World Champion Ellen O’Leary (Seattle, Wash.) and 2016 individual bronze medalist Diane Hiatt (Sparks, Nev.) rounded out Team USA’s +70 positions.

The stacked squad would come up against a challenging field in the pool rounds, however, where four of the five teams would post 2-2 records.

Only Great Britain would remain undefeated while Team USA earned the No. 2 seed with wins over Japan at 30-15 and a German team that included two of the three individual Vet World Champions at 30-29.

The Americans’ two losses came to Great Britain, 30-22, and France, 30-28.

Team USA led France and Germany in indicators, however, to earn a position in the gold medal final against Great Britain.

Subbing in for Eyre, Turner defeated Jane Hutchison with a 5-3 win in the fourth. Pernice posted a +12 indicator during the second and fifth bouts against Michele Narey to give Team USA a 25-15 lead going into the anchor leg where Hiatt would fence Vivien Frith – a three-time medalist at 60-69 who won the individual gold during her first year as a +70 fencer. While Hiatt won their first bout, 5-4, Frith made a comeback in the final bout. Hiatt held off her opponent, however, to secure the win, 30-28.

After top-eight finishes at the last three Veteran Worlds, the U.S. Men’s Epee Team entered this event with multiple Vet World medalists on the team, including 2016 Vet World Champion Arnold Messing (Brooklyn, N.Y. / +70) as well as first-time U.S. Team members John Lartz (River Forest, Ill.) and Daniel Rees (Denver, Colo.)

Team USA defeated Georgia, 30-12, with Rees as anchor, but fell two touches shy of a win against Hungary. Despite posting six touches against two-time Vet World medalist Laszlo Imreh in the anchor bout, Lartz couldn’t close the two-touch gap and Hungary took the win at 30-28.

Seeded seventh, Team USA fenced Switzerland in the table of 16.

With Switzerland leading the bout, 7-6, after the first four bouts, 2011 Vet World bronze medalist Drew Ridge (Warminster, Pa. / 60-69) outscored Paul Muller, 8-5. Jon Normile (Millburn, N.J. / 50-59), a 1992 Olympian, defeated 2012 Vet World silver medalist Christian Dousse, 9-6, to secure a 23-18 win for Team USA.

In the quarter-finals, Team USA fenced France with two-time +70 fencer Bruno Goosens (Jacksonville, Ore.) as anchor.

Ridge put up another key win, defeating two-time Vet World medalist Francois Gaudry, 10-7, to tie the score at 20 after the fourth bout. France pulled away in the fifth with a 25-22 lead, but Goosens went on a 5-1 run against 2015 Vet World Saber Champion Andre Chaboisseau to clinch the win at 27-26.

Team USA would keep the semifinals at a low score again, leading Sweden, 16-13, after the fifth bout. Normile returned as anchor and outscored Tomas Lundblad, 9-8, as he led the Americans to a 25-21 victory.

The Americans faced Germany in the gold medal final and controlled the match from start to finish. Ridge, Goosens and Normile posted two victories each with Normile closing the win at 30-21 with a 5-3 victory over Guido Quanz in the anchor bout.

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:

Veteran World Championships Women’s Team Saber
1. USA
2. Great Britain
3. Germany
4. France
5. Japan

Veteran World Championships Men’s Team Epee
1. USA
2. Germany
3. Sweden
4. Italy
5. Japan
6. France
7. Great Britain
8. Hungary