The Columbia Lions fencing team is the intercollegiate

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

team for

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

located in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City. The team competes in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

within Division I of the NCAA. The university first fielded a team in 1898, under the leadership of coach James Murray. The team is currently coached by Michael Aufrichtig. The Blue Gym (or University Gym) is home to the Columbia Lion fencing team, located within the Dodge Physical Fitness Center on campus.

History

The team was founded in 1898, and has had some noteworthy successes. It has captured the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

national title 16 times, most recently in 2019. It also won

Intercollegiate Fencing Association The Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) was the oldest collegiate fencing conference in the United States. It was affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Membership In its final season, the IFA had 11 members. Corne ...

national championships in 1898, 1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, and 1934. The team has also won 52

Championships, capturing both the Men's and Women's titles outright in 2019. Fencing for the team,

Norman C. Armitage Norman Armitage (January 1, 1907, as Norman Cudworth Cohn – March 14, 1972) was an American patent lawyer, and chemical engineer who became an accomplished textile executive. He was an exceptional Fencing#Sabre, saber fencer who competed in si ...

won the

saber championship in 1928,

Emily Jacobson Emily Phillipa Jacobson (born December 2, 1985, in Decatur, Georgia) is an American Olympic sabre fencer. She won a bronze medal in the 2003 Pan American Games, and was 2004 Junior World Champion in women's saber. Background Jacobson was born ...

won the NCAA women's saber championship in 2005, and Daria Schneider won the NCAA women's saber championship in 2007. The team has produced a number of Olympians, including five in 2012. Columbia grad Alen Hadzic was named as an alternate to the 2021 Olympic team, but was suspended by the United States Center for SafeSport (SafeSport) due to findings of an investigation following allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct; an arbitrator later reduced his sanction, allowing him to go to Tokyo, though he did not fence. Hadzic had previously been suspended by Columbia University for a year for

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...

, while he was a member of the Columbia team, as a result of the findings of a

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

investigation. In June 2023, Hadzic was banned from fencing in the US for life by SafeSport, due to his sexual misconduct.

Notable former fencers

Nicole Ross 2014 Saint-Maur WC teams t105054

(born Norman Cohn; 1907-1972), 6-time Olympic fencer * Robert Blum (born 1928), 2-time Olympic fencer * Bob Cottingham (born 1966), Olympic fencer * Jacqueline Dubrovich (born 1994), Olympic fencer *

Sherif Farrag Sherif Farrag is an Egyptian- American fencer. He represented Egypt at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the team foil event. He represented the United States in World Cup competition before switching to Egypt. Farrag graduated from Columbia Universit ...

(born 1987), Olympic fencer * Joel Glucksman (born 1949), Olympic fencer * Asher Grodman (born 1987), actor * Jacob Hoyle (born 1994), Olympic fencer *

(born 1985), Olympic fencer * Dan Kellner (born 1976), Olympic fencer * Stephen Kovacs (1972–2022), fencer and coach, charged with

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

, died in prison * James Margolis (born 1936), Olympic fencer * James Melcher (born 1939), Olympic fencer *

Nzingha Prescod Nzingha Prescod (born August 14, 1992) is an American foil fencer, World Champion in foil at the 2008 and 2009 Cadet World Cups, bronze medalist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships, three-time medalist at the Pan American Games, and two-time ...

(born 1992), Olympic fencer * Nicole Ross (born 1989), Olympic fencer *

Hal Scardino Albert Henry Hugh "Hal" Scardino (born December 25, 1984) is an American-British producer and former child actor best known for appearing in ''The Indian in the Cupboard''. He also starred in ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', '' Marvin's Room'', an ...

(born 1984), American-British actor * Daria Schneider (born 1987), saber team bronze medalist in World Fencing Championships (2011 and 2012) *

Erinn Smart Erinn Smart (born January 12, 1980Erinn Smart
, USA Fencing. Accessed July 27, 2012.) is an American fo ...

(born 1980), Olympic fencer *

Jeff Spear Jeff Spear (born June 28, 1988) is an American sabre fencer. He competed in the men's team sabre competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He fenced for the Columbia Lions fencing team. Spear graduated from Columbia University Columb ...

(born 1988), Olympic fencer *

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...

(born Kornél Weisz; 1912–1989), Hungarian-American actor *

James Leighman Williams James Leighman Williams (born September 22, 1985) is an American fencer. College career Williams is a graduate of Columbia University. He fenced for the Columbia Lions fencing team. In his college freshman year, he posted a record of 18–3. ...

History

Notable former fencers

Year-by-year results

Men's fencing

Women's fencing

References

External links