USA Fencing

Per the announcement made via the USA Fencing website in July as well as in the August USA Fencing E-Newsletter, athletes competing in Division I national events during the 2017-18 season are reminded that a strength factor will be used to determine points allocations for Division I North American Cups and July Challenge as well as the Division I National Championships.

This domestic strength factor will be used to gauge the strength of an event based on the competitors in attendance rather than weight values which have been used in past seasons.

The domestic strength factor, which is based on the National Rolling Point Standings of competitors in attendance as well as FIE rankings, is a pilot program for 2017-18. This program was established by the USA Fencing Sports Performance Department in conjunction with athletes, club coaches and board members as well as the National Team Coaches from all three weapons, the Sports Performance Resource Team and the Athlete Advisory Committee. These groups also will evaluate the program throughout the season to determine whether it will be used in subsequent seasons.

The domestic strength factor will be used at all NACs during the 2017-18 season, beginning with the October NAC in Anaheim, as well as the 2018 Division I National Championships and July Challenge.

Further details can be found below as well as in the Athlete Handbook:

Strength Factor for USA Fencing Division I North American Cup events

The strength factor (SF) is a multiplier used to gauge the strength of an event and to determine the number of USA Fencing points earned for placement in the competition. The strength factor takes into consideration the size (N) of the field and the number of ranked fencers in the competition. The strength factor is applied to the Point Table in Appendix 3.

The strength factor will be used for all Division I North American Cups and the July Challenge with a minimum strength factor of .8 and a maximum Strength Factor of 1.1.  

The Division I National Championships will have a minimum Strength Factor of 1.0 and a maximum of 1.1. 

FORMULA FOR STRENGTH FACTOR (SF)

SF = [N/10 + 6(SrFIE32) + 5(Sr4) + 4(Sr8) + 3 (Sr16) + 2(Sr32) + 1(SR64)]/100

N=Number of competitors

SrFIE32=Number of athletes ranked in the top 32 of the FIE World Rankings

Sr4=Number of athletes ranked 1-4 in the National Rolling Point Standings

Sr8=Number of athletes ranked 5-8 in the National Rolling Point Standings

Sr16=Number of athletes ranked 9-16 in the National Rolling Point Standings

Sr32=Number of athletes ranked 17-32 in the National Rolling Point Standings

Sr64=Number of athletes ranked 33-64 in the National Rolling Point Standings

The following principles will be used when calculating the strength factor:

• The size of the field (N) used will be those fencers who complete a pool round
• The FIE and USA Fencing standings are those at the start of the competition
• The strength factor is calculated to the thousandths digit (for example, .906)
• Foreign Fencers
   
  • Prior to seeding each event, foreign fencers will be added to the rolling point standings (if applicable). 
  • Points earned at a NAC by a foreign fencer will roll off as the event is replaced.  Once a foreign fencer has no domestic points, he or she will be removed from the rolling points list (as to not affect the strength factor).
  • Fencers ranked in the FIE Top 32 and USA Fencing top 64 will be recognized in both calculations.