USA Fencing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When Julie Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club) takes the strip, she doesn’t just want to win. She wants to dominate.

“I'm super greedy,” she says. “I get on strip, and I am hungry for all 10 touches. I would like to win the bout 10-0 every single time. I want the next touch every single time. I don't care what happened a second ago. I want this touch right now.”

That “greediness” — paired with the skill that comes from years of dedicated training — helped Seal win the Vet-50 Women’s Saber world championship on Friday, the third day of the 2023 FIE Veteran Fencing World Championships, hosted by USA Fencing in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Seal wins her second consecutive world title in the Vet-50 Women’s Saber event and her second world championship of the tournament. She won the Vet-50 Women’s Foil championship on the tournament’s first day.

By winning world championships in two different weapons in the same year, Seal stands alone in American fencing history. No other American has achieved that feat at any level — cadets, juniors, seniors or veterans.

(It’s important to note that this feat has been achieved by fencers from other countries. Most notable among them is Marie-Chantal Demaille of France, who — among countless accomplishments — won Vet 70+ titles in epee, foil and saber in 2013.)

“I spent a long time really visualizing the win today, really deciding how I wanted to come off the line,” Seal says. “On the very first instance right off the line, I knew what I wanted my attitude to be.”

One could argue that Team USA’s entire Women’s Saber squad has a little of that same greediness. On Friday, American women won all three world championships in Women’s Saber, with Seal winning the 50s, Lydia Fabry (Avant Garde Fencers Club) winning the 60s, and Jane Eyre (Infinity Fencing Alliance) winning the 70+ category.

For Fabry, that’s a third individual world championship. She won in the 50s in 2015 and in the 60s in 2019 — a gold medal every four years. But it’s more than world titles that keeps her coming back to fencing year after year.

“Honestly, if I didn’t have fencing, I don’t know where I’d be,” she says. “Physically, mentally, it does so much for me. I’m so glad to have the sport, and I just feel super lucky that I seem to do well with it.

The 60-69 category has been Team USA’s best event in Women’s Saber. Americans have won gold in that category seven of the last 10 Vet Worlds.

In the 70+ category, Jane Eyre (Infinity Fencing Alliance) took home the title, securing a second win in a row in the event for Team USA. Delia Turner won gold last year in Croatia.

Eyre won her eighth Vet World championship on Friday — more than any other Women’s Saber fencer in history. Her titles so far:

• Vet 50s: 2005, 2010
• Vet 60s: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
• Vet 70s: 2023

The Women’s Saber sweep for Team USA has happened only once before — in 2015, when Fabry, Eyre and Ellen O’Leary brought home all three golds. Women’s Saber is the only weapon that has ever seen a Team USA sweep at Vet Worlds.

But the success on Friday wasn’t just in saber.

In the Vet-50 Men’s Epee event, Jon Normile (Medeo Fencing Club) emerged with the title in the tournament’s largest event. Normile has three team titles at Vet Worlds, but this is his first individual medal of any color.

He’s also Team USA’s first world champion in Vet-50 Men’s Epee in 14 years (2009, Walt Dragonetti).

Normile says his son was watching back at home — during the middle of the school day.

“My son is a fencer, and he was the first person to call to congratulate me,” Normile says. “The final match was around 2:30, and he was in school. He was sneaking his phone — it’s against the rules — he was watching the match under his desk with the volume down. He’s lucky he didn’t get in trouble.”

Normile didn’t rely on luck to get his gold. He relied on what veterans know works best: preparation.

“It's incredibly fulfilling,” he says. “When you start this competition, you have no idea what's going to happen. I think I did a very good job preparing myself, I worked extra hard to get myself in shape, I lost 10 pounds. I stayed healthy, didn't overtrain. So I did everything I possibly could to make this possible. And then whatever happens, happens.”

It was certainly happening for Walt Dragonetti (Battle Born Fencing Club and Hooked on Fencing), who earns his eighth medal at Vet Worlds:

• 2007, Vet 50s individual silver
• 2008, Vet 50s individual bronze
• 2009, Vet 50s individual gold
• 2017, Vet 60s individual gold
• 2018, Vet 60s individual silver
• 2018, team gold
• 2019, team gold
• 2023, Vet 60s, individual bronze

• By winning world championships in two different weapons in the same year, Julie Seal stands alone in American fencing history. No other American has achieved that feat at any level — cadets, juniors, seniors or veterans.
• Lydia Fabry won her third individual world championship. She won in the 50s in 2015 and in the 60s in 2019 — a gold medal every four years.
• Jane Eyre won her eighth Vet World championship — more than any other Women’s Saber fencer in history. Her titles so far: Vet 50s: 2005, 2010; Vet 60s: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018; Vet 70s: 2023.
• The Women’s Saber sweep for Team USA has happened only once before — in 2015, when Lydia Fabry, Jane Eyre and Ellen O’Leary brought home all three golds. Women’s Saber is the only weapon that has ever seen a Team USA sweep at Vet Worlds.
• In the Vet-50 Men’s Epee event, Jon Normile emerged with the title in the tournament’s largest event. Normile has three team titles at Vet Worlds, but this is his first individual medal of any color. He’s also Team USA’s first world champion in Vet-50 Men’s Epee in 14 years (2009, Walt Dragonetti).

Vet-50 Women’s Saber

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion: Julie Seal (USA)

Silver: Gunilla Graudins (Germany)

Bronze: Catherine Hori (France)

Bronze: Nicole Thome (Germany)

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9th: Frauke Berman

12th: Jamie Willemse

16th: Eileen Foley

Vet-60 Women’s Saber

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion: Lydia Fabry (USA)

Silver: Robin Pernice (USA)

Bronze: Sylvie Zini (France)

Bronze: Jane S Hutchison (Great Britain)

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6th: Heidi Runyan

10th: Jennette Starks-Faulkner

Vet-70 Women’s Saber

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion: Jane Eyre (USA)

Silver: Jeannine Bender (USA)

Bronze: Linda Dunn (USA)

Bronze: Bronze: Silvia Brown (Great Britain)

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6th: Jude Offerle

Vet-50 Men’s Epee

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion: Jon Normile (USA)

Silver: Emmanuel Peyret Lacombe (France)

Bronze: Claudio Pirani (Italy)

Bronze: Akinori Katashima (Japan)

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17th: Joe Deucher 

25th: Aaron Gaines 

36th: Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu 

Vet-60 Men’s Epee

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion: Jan Tivenius (Sweden)

Silver: Gerhard Birkenmaier (Germany)

Bronze: Walter Dragonetti (USA)

Bronze: Herve Le Barbier (France)

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18th: Fred Frank

32nd: John Varney

53rd: David Jensen

Vet-70 Men’s Epee

Gold and 2023 Veteran World Champion: Peter Osvath (Australia)

Silver: Laszlo Imreh (Hungary)

Bronze: Jean-Louis Noel (France)

Bronze: Francois Gaudry (France)

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6th: James Newsome

15th: Charlie Schneider

17th: Daryl Taylor

30th: Tom Henzler

Find Day 3 photos on the USA Fencing Facebook page.

Find video from the tournament on the FIE YouTube channel.