USA Fencing

(Reno, Nev.) – USA Fencing honored eight members of the fencing community on Sunday night at the annual USA Fencing Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony.

Held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, nearly 100 people attended the ceremony and reception, including dignitaries from nations competing at the Pan American Zonal Championships this week.

The evening began with Andy Shaw (Shreveport, La.), Chairman of the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame Committee welcoming the crowd and giving attendees a lesson on the history of fencing in the United States that included amusing tales of how fencing rules, past and present, came to be as well as anecdotes of some of the United States’ earliest international competitors.

USA Fencing President Kalle Weeks (Morristown, N.J.) presented three service awards to USA Fencing members who have spent decades working to grow improve fencing in the United States.

Les Stawicki (Louisville, Ky.) received the Ray Miller Award for Service to the Sport of Fencing in recognition of his work with wheelchair fencing. The 2004 and 2008 Paralympic Coach, Stawicki has helped grow wheelchair fencing in the United States and works with coaches and club owners to recruit new wheelchair fencers and develop programs that integrate wheelchair fencers into able-bodied programs.

Donald Alperstein (Denver, Colo.) was recognized with the Service to USA Fencing Award. Alperstein has served as general counsel for USA Fencing since 1992. In addition to managing the legal activities of USA Fencing, Alperstein has been involved in drafting countless critical documents for the organization, including working with the Bylaws Review Committee to draft the revised bylaws.

The Jack Baker Award for Service to Divisions and Sections was awarded to Dan Berke (Kirkland, Wash.) who was unable to attend the reception. Berke is the developerof FencingTime – a software program used by tournament organizers throughout the nation that ranks fencers, assigns referees, constructs pools and tables and compiles results for posting on the internet, among many other features.

The Hall of Fame inductions began with a posthumous induction of Arthur St. Clair Lyon who was one of only two men ever to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team in all three weapons. A three-time Olympian, St. Clair Lyon won bronze as a member of the foil team at the 1920 Games. St. Clair also is the only U.S. fencer ever to have won national titles in all four team events: epee, foil, saber and the three-weapon event.

Tanya Adamovich (Bellmore, N.Y.) was the second inductee and, although personal commitments meant that she was unable to travel to Reno, one of her former students, John Scarpino (New City, N.Y.) accepted the award on her behalf. After Scarpino honored the childhood coach who made him fall in love with the sport, a video was played in which Adamovich thanked the Hall of Fame and told the story of how she was a top junior in the Soviet Union who came to the United States in 1968 and went on to fulfill her dream of representing the United States at the 1972 Olympic Games. After she retired from competing, Adamovich began coaching out of her home and, although Scaprino said her basement studio was small, Adamovich produced athletes who went on to become Olympians, National Champions and NCAA All-Americans.

Three-time Senior World Team Coach Delmar Calvert (Lake Oswego, Ore.) was recognized for his outstanding coaching career that included roles as a U.S. coach at three Junior and three Senior World Championship Teams. After an introduction by T.K. Goldenbaum whose son is one of Calvert’s current students, Calvert talked not only about his experiences with elite athletes, but the joy he gained from working with young fencers as well.

Stacey Johnson (Helotes, Texas), holds the distinction of being both an outstanding former competitor as well as a successful administrator. A four-time NCAA Team Champion during her career at San Jose State University, Johnson was named to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that did not compete in the Games due to the U.S. boycott. After retiring from the sport, Johnson was elected as the Vice President of the U.S. Fencing Association from 1992-1996 under Steve Sobel (Cedar Grove, N.J.) who introduced Johnson and discussed her contributions to the sport as the first woman to hold the presidency of the organization for a full four-year term (2000-2004). Among Johnson’s greatest accomplishments was her successful campaign to have women’s saber included in the Olympic Games.

The ceremony concluded with the induction of three-time Olympian Ann Marsh (Royal Oak, Mich.) who was introduced by her Sydney teammate Felicia Zimmermann (Rush, N.Y.) Zimmermann let the audience in on the personal and humorous side of what it was like to travel with Marsh, including the three “tips to international success.” Marsh also entertained the audience with stories of what it was like to become one of the most successful U.S. female fencers in decades as she rose through the ranks to finish seventh as an individual at the 1996 Games and fourth in the team event with Zimmerman in Sydney.