Foiling the competition
Columbia's junior fencers look ahead to Summer Nationals
|
Inside the YMCA, a dozen or more young Columbians practice a centuries-old chivalrous sport. Fencing as a modern sport is only about 90 years old.
Two evenings a week young members of the Columbia Fencers' Club work in class at improving their techniques. They say the athletically demanding discipline keeps them on their toes, mentally and physically.
The moves and techniques of three young fencers were good enough to qualify them recently for Junior Olympics Competitions. Katie and Kevin Colburn and Claire Sumaydeng-Bryan held their own last month in Hartford, CT, in that national competition. Now, like the rest of the team, they have their sights set on qualifying for the US Fencing Association's (USA) Summer National Championships. Those events will be held in Atlanta in late June and early July this year.
Katie Colburn, a senior at Spring Valley High School, fences both foil and epe, two of the three weapons used by fencers. She began fencing at age 14 and recently has participated in the 2005 USFA Summer Nationals in Sacramento; the 2005 Junior Olympics in Arlington, Texas; and the 2005 North American Cup in Miami.
Colburn recently finished sixth in the Palmetto Challenge to
earn an E rating in foil. Skill levels are rated alphabetically. She is a National Merit Scholar semifinalist, and an AP Scholar with Honors. She plays cello in the Richland School District Two orchestra and was recently accepted to the USC Honors College 2006 freshman class.
Claire Sumaydeng-Bryan's competitive weapon is foil. The Dreher High School senior has been a member of the Columbia Fencers' Club since the 8th grade. Sumaydeng-Bryan fenced at the USFA 2004 Summer Nationals in Charlotte, NC, and the 2005 North American Cup in Atlanta, Ga. She is a National Merit Scholar finalist and plays viola in the South Carolina Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. She will attend Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in the fall.
Kevin Colburn is an epe fencer and Spring Valley High School junior. Kevin began fencing competitively in 2005 at the North American Cup in Miami. He is first chair oboe in the Spring Valley and Richland District 2 orchestras and a Life Scout. He also enjoys video games and paintball.
The team's coach is Dr. Jane Littmann who began coaching in the mid-'70s. A member of two US World Championship Teams in Women's Epe, Littmannn was a finalist in all three weapons-foil, epe, and saber-at the US National Championships.
Littmann won several North American Cups and was the North American Circuit Season point champion for two years. She was classified as an A-fencer, the top skill level.
Although she retired from competition in 1992, she "unretired" briefly to compete on the Columbia Fencers' Club Women's Epe Team that in 1999 won the US Summer National Championships.
Littmann was a member of the US Maccabiah Team that won the bronze medal in Women's Foil Team and was a medalist in competitions in Europe. She achieved top 32 results in several World Cups in Women's Epe.
In addition to competing, Littmann is an experienced referee. She refereed at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in 1995. She has been invited to, and has participated in, national and international fencing and coaching seminars and training camps for elite athletes and coaches, including at the US Olympic Training Center.
The young fencers follow specific criteria, set out by the US Fencing Association, http://www.usfencing.org
