USA Fencing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When your energy is flagging during a long day of fencing, just try Chloe Fox-Gitomer’s technique: Bring the rage.

Because of flight delays leaving Oregon, Fox-Gitomer didn’t arrive at her hotel until after 3 a.m. Sunday. That was just 12 hours before she was scheduled to appear at her strip to begin pools in Division I Women’s Saber.

“You know what? It's time to amp up,” she told herself. “I'm getting tired, but I just need to bring the heat. I need to bring the rage. And, honestly, that carried me through — that adrenaline.”

Adrenaline — paired with the level of experience and skill you’d expect from the 2020 Junior National Champion and winner of three previous Division I gold medals at NACs — carried Fox-Gitomer to another gold medal on Sunday. 

Her win was among the highlights during a fabulous third day of fencing at the January 2023 North American Cup. Sunday featured 13 events, with gold medals awarded in Division I Women’s Saber, Division I Men’s Epee, Junior Women’s Epee and 10 different Veterans events. 

Twenty fencers finished better than Fox-Gitomer in the pool round, which gave the Princeton senior a tougher path to the finals. But unlike when she was a few years younger, Fox-Gitomer resisted the temptation to look several rounds ahead to see who she might fence if she kept winning.

“When I was younger, I used to obsess over the tableau, and I'd be like, ‘Oh my God, I have to fence this person. And what if this person loses to this person?’ And then team points are on the line — blah, blah, blah,” she says. “I found it made me so much more Zen if I was just like, ‘let's just focus on getting past this round.’ I really had to do that because I was struggling and not making it past those initial rounds. I just had to reconfigure my strategy — one at a time.”

This Division I NAC gold was Fox-Gitomer’s fourth, but Sunday’s other Division I gold medal was a first at a NAC for Sean White.

In a stacked field that included multiple Olympians, White took home the top prize in Division I Men’s Epee. 

White says he was feeling confident when starting the day — “I think I had all the skills and tools necessary to win” — but everything came screeching to a halt with just one touch to go in the finals.

White had 14 points when his left leg locked, and an intense cramp set in. He could no longer stand and sat down on the edge of the raised finals strip to try to lessen the pain. 

“The first thing going through my mind is: ‘Not like this. Not like this,’” he says. “I was trying to relax, focus on my breathing and try to get at least to a point where I could stand and bend my knee.”

With help from Adam Thompson, a member of the USA Fencing athletic training staff, White eventually got back onto his feet and scored the decisive touch. 

After a handful of impressive results at the past few NACs — third at Summer Nationals, ninth at the October 2022 NAC and eighth at the December 2022 NAC — White is proud to have taken the next step to the medal stand’s highest perch. And what was the winning technique that got him there? 

It’s deceptively simple.

“Work hard,” he says. “That's all there is to it. Honestly, it's a lot of hard work, a lot of hours put in.”

Division I Women's Saber

Gold: Chloe N. Fox-Gitomer (Oregon Fencing Alliance / Princeton University)

Silver: Zoe Kim (Nellya Fencers)

Bronze: Siobhan R. Sullivan (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

Bronze: Jenna Shoman (Manhattan Fencing Center)

5: Aleksandra (Ola) M. Strzalkowski (Pennsylvania State University)

6: Maia C. Chamberlain (Manhattan Fencing Center / Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy)

7: Sophia Kovacs (University Of North Carolina-Chapel Hill / Durkan Fencing Academy)

8: Jessica Y. Morales (International Fencing Club)

 

Division I Men's Epee

Gold: Sean White (Fencers Club Inc.)

Silver: Dylan French (Canada)

Bronze: Konstantin Vaysbukh (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Samuel F. Larsen (Northwest Fencing Center)

5: Ariel (Ari) J. Simmons (New York Athletic Club / Alliance Fencing Academy)

6: Stephen P. Ewart Jr. (University of Notre Dame / Swords Fencing Studio)

7: Andrea Cipriani (New York Athletic Club / Fencers Club Inc.)

8: Christopher Chong (Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

 

Junior Women's Epee

Gold: Sarah Gu (Medeo Fencing Club)

Silver: Faith K. Park (DC Fencers Club)

Bronze: Hadley N. Husisian (Fencers Club Inc. / Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

Bronze: Sedna S. Gandhi (University of Notre Dame)

5: Fan Wu (Canada)

6: Isabella Chin (New York Fencing Academy)

7: Sharika R. Gajjala (Medeo Fencing Club)

8: Junyao Lu (Wanglei International Fencing Club)

 

Vet Men's Saber (Combined)

Gold: Ivan Lee OLY (Long Island University / Long Island Fencing Center)

Silver: Mahmoud Elbakry (Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

Bronze: Michael F. Bacon (Manhattan Fencing Center)

Bronze: Vitaly V. Neverovich (Renaissance Fencing Club)

5: Ronald J. Thornton (Capital Fencing Academy)

6: Chris Matt (Capital Fencing Academy)

7: Aaron M. Waxler (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)

8: Todd Bukowski (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

 

Vet-40 Women's Foil

Gold: Inga Cho (Renaissance Fencing Club)

Silver: Rebecca J. Mao (Bluegrass Fencers' Club / Olde Town Fencing Club)

Bronze: Kathryn S. Pierrynowski (Research Triangle Fencing)

Bronze: Polina S. Mcgrath (Renaissance Fencing Club)

5: Teodora O. Stanica (The Fencing Center)

6: Velyn Wu (Invictus Fencing / University of Florida Fencing Club)

7: Kundry E. Haberkern (Salle Auriol Seattle)

8: Traci Sethre (Fargo-Moorhead Fencing Club)

 

Vet-50 Women's Foil

Gold: Jane P. Carter (Marx Fencing Academy / Tanner City Fencers Club)

Silver: Julie T. Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club)

Bronze: Maria Panyi (Masters Fencing Club)

Bronze: Lesley F. Chapman (Ludus Fencing Studio)

5: Celine De La Foscade-Condon (Moe Fencing Club LLC)

6: Diane F. Ferguson (Olde Town Fencing Club)

7: Judith M. Bassik (Profencing)

8: Nadia S. Dreyer (Nova Fencing Club)

 

Vet-60 Women's Foil

Gold: Anne-Marie Walters (Masters Fencing Club)

Silver: Elizabeth (Badger) E. Merritt (Rockville Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Georgina Love (Central Florida)

Bronze: Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Connecticut)

5: Allison F. Treloar (Salle De Long Fencers / NMFC/Duke City Fencing)

6: Suzanne Brown Marx (Northwest Fencing Center)

7: Ursula (Uschi) Szpak (Fencing Institute of Texas)

8: Lynnette A. Whitt (Rockville Fencing Academy)

 

Vet-70 Women's Foil

Gold: Agota Balot (Atlantic Fencing Academy)

Silver: Joanne B. Stevens (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Muriel C. Cawthorn (Rhode Island Fencing Academy and Club)

Bronze: Deborah A. Theriault (Pittsburgh Fencers Club)

5: Judith (Jude) A. Offerle (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago / University of Notre Dame)

6: Patricia G. Bedrosian (Salle Couturier)

7: Madelon M. Rosenfeld (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club / Fencers Club Inc.)

8: Diane Reckling (Fencers Club Inc.)

 

Vet-80 Women's Foil

Gold: Bettie J. Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)

Silver: Patricia G. Bedrosian (Salle Couturier)

Bronze: Diane Reckling (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Mary A. Turzillo (On Target Fencing Team / Cyranos Place)

 

Vet-40 Men's Foil

Gold: Dong-Ying Pai (Twin Cities Fencing Club)

Silver: Julian Tang (Canada)

Bronze: Eric J. Gonzalez (Lincoln Fencing Club)

Bronze: Peter Habala (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago)

5: Zhiyong Zhao (Bluegrass Fencers' Club / Queen City Fencers Club LLC)

6: Timothy Robinson (Presidio Fencing Club / University Of Calif/Santa Barbara (UCSB))

7: Stephen N. Pashby (Forge Fencing Teams)

8: Brendan M. McConville (Cape Fear Fencing Association / Forge Fencing Teams)

 

Vet-50 Men's Foil

Gold: Nathan T. Anderson (Denver Fencing Center)

Silver: Rafael A. Suarez (Masters Fencing Club)

Bronze: Michael Cho (Renaissance Fencing Club)

Bronze: Frets G. Olivares (Fencers Club Inc.)

5: Leo Popokh (Fencing Institute of Texas)

6: Leon D. Sanchez (Boston Fencing Club)

7: Oliver K. Foellmer (LA International Fencing)

8: Roustam R. Pimoutkine (Fencers Club Inc.)

 

Vet-60 Men's Foil

Gold: Jamie M. Douraghy (LA International Fencing)

Silver: Paul Epply-Schmidt (Bucks County Academy Of Fencing / Sebastiani Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Philippe Bennett (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: John W. Lawrence (New Jersey)

5: Henri J. Darricau (Denver Fencing Center)

6: Robert Pavlovich (Fencers Club Inc.)

7: Stephen R. Gross (Rockville Fencing Academy)

8: David L. Drake (Team Touche Fencing Center)

 

Vet-70 Men's Foil

Gold: Thomas (Tom) W. Lutton (Denver Fencing Center / LE CLUB TOUCHE)

Silver: Joseph E. Biebel (Phoenix Falcons Fencing Club)

Bronze: Joseph S. Streb (Columbus International Fencing Academy / Royal Arts Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Richard Mayer (New Jersey)

5: Jan (Janmon) M. Patterson (Salle Auriol Seattle)

6: Frank Thomiszer (Bluegrass Fencers' Club)

7: Daniel (Dan) W. Mccarthy (The Phoenix Center)

8: Mark V. Ballard (Canada)

Explore the full Day 3 photo collection on Facebook.