USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – USA Fencing is pleased to announce that the support staff has been selected for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Fencing Team that will compete in Rio de Janeiro.

The support staff includes the team captain, team leader, director of sports medicine and armorer who will work with the six weapon squads that constitute the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team.

Three-time Olympian Ann Marsh-Senic (Royal Oak, Mich.) will serve as team captain and will be responsible for acting as the head of delegation, working with the directoire technique and arbitrage, registering protests and serving as an advocate for fencers and coaches on and off the strip. Marsh-Senic, a 2001 Senior World team bronze medalist, has traveled with the U.S. Women’s Foil Team and served as its team captain since 2014.  

Kate Reisinger (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Fencing’s director of sports performance, has been selected as team leader. Reisinger, who served as team leader for Team USA at the 2015 Senior World Championships, previously acted as team leader at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games for field hockey as well as at three Pan American Games (2003, 2007, 2011).

After working with Team USA at the 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015 Senior World Championships, Jeremy Summers (Huntington Beach, Calif.) will serve as the director of sports medicine for the team at the Games. Himself a former Senior World Team member in men’s saber, Summers joined the USA Fencing National Office staff full-time beginning with the 2015-16 season and will help prepare team members for the Games both at home and while working with athletes on the World Cup circuit.

Matthew Porter (Pacifica, Calif.), the armorer for Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games, will return to the role in 2016. Porter, who has worked with the U.S. team at both the Junior and Senior World Championships, will be responsible for managing the equipment for the team and ensuring that weapons and gear pass inspection and weapon control. Porter also will work with the athletes during competition to make sure that weapons are in proper condition for optimal performance.

Coaches will be selected by May 1 after athletes are nominated to the team. All staff for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Fencing Team is subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee.