Fencers Have Moment In Spotlight At Another Smooth Arnold Fencing Classic

Imagine competing in a multi-sport festival with 45 sports, 18,000 athletes and 170,000 spectators. That’s more than the Summer and Winter Olympics combined.

Imagine a star-studded gala with the likes of Frank O’Harris, Sylvester Stallone, Lou Ferrigno, Randy Couture, Mariel Zagunis, Peter Westbrook, Daria Schneider and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered this event wasn’t in Paris, LA or New York but in Columbus, Ohio at the Arnold Sports Festival. Every March the largest multi-sport festival in the world descends on the largest city in Ohio, and for the past eight years the Arnold Fencing Classic has been an exciting part of the festivities.

The first question to leap to everyone’s mind is: why Columbus? The short story is in 1970 Arnold Schwarzenegger had his first victory in Columbus and was impressed with the event’s organization. He and Jim Lorimer, the festival’s organizer, agreed to work together for a “couple years” to continue the event. It has been growing ever since.

According to Tim Mills, the Fencing Classic Director of Operations, “This may be the largest independent fencing event in the country.” With thirty-nine fencing events ranging from Y8 to Veterans Combined, this year's tournament drew fencers from thirty-four states, Canada, Puerto Rico, Italy and Egypt. Fencers representing 241 clubs, from sixty different divisions, fenced on twenty-five strips over three days.

“We are always impressed with the quality of the fencers competing at our events. Each year it gets a little more impressive,” said Mr. Mills.

“It is a great experience to see familiar faces and be involved in the event,” wrote Mariel Zagunis, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, and one of the premier fencers appearing at this year’s tournament.

During a rare calm moment at the Arnold, Mr. Mills tells me, “I get all sorts of compliments like, 'this is the best run tournament I’ve been to.’ I get that all the time.”

Julia Richey, chair of the Classic adds, “It is a challenge running so many events and working with a celebrity's hectic schedule. Arnold always visits the event and we make sure to take the time to allow the fencers to get some photos, shake hands, thank him for his support of our growing sport and have a brush with American royalty.”

This year’s 39 gold and silver winners received medals as well as signed copies of Douglas E. Richards's book The Devil’s Sword. In addition, the coaches earned USFCA sponsored medals, with Maître Gilbert Gélinas, from the Canadian club Le Signeurs de le Rive Nord, taking home a weighty seven medals.

Of special note, this year’s participants included Veteran World Team finalists and World Champions; Romanian, German, Canadian, Puerto Rican and Turkish National champions in the Y14, cadet and junior divisions; European Veteran Championship finalists; Central American champions and finalists; a Y10 Epee national champion; and SYC champions from around the country.

“We really have some great competition and exciting people fencing at our event,” said an understated Mr. Mills.

The kids aren’t just competing for medals. The teens in this year’s event also had the opportunity to compete for a $2,000 scholarship from the Arnold and the Columbus Rotary Club. The scholarship was based on submitted essays, not results on the strip, although participation in the Classic is required. This year, 15-year-old Alistair Delchamps of the Birmingham Fencing Club won the scholarship to apply towards the college of his choice.

“Our applicants are well rounded scholars,” said Kirsten Smith, the Scholarship Committee Chair. “It was a hard decision to pick the winner. We wanted to make sure we got the right kid, but we knew whoever won it was going to be important to them and their families.” [For more information on the next scholarship opportunity go to scholarship.]

The excitement of winning the scholarship is only matched by the excitement on the 25 strips, which included two showcase strips in the lobby off of a main thoroughfare. Personally, I enjoyed watching the other Arnold athletes like the mixed martial artists and cheerleaders who watched our sport. Each group had a different reason to appreciate the inherent challenges of the matches. In addition, the main hall had a spotlight strip on a raised stage complete with curtain, extra touch lights for the spectators, and full video production. The stage was also perfect for medal presentations and visiting dignitaries.

On Sunday, there was a pause in the fencing for some star watching. To be perfectly honest, I am not the type that is impressed by celebrities. I don’t fawn over the rich and famous. So it was a challenge for me to find the right attitude Sunday as I waited in the packed main hall for Arnold to arrive. I eventually settled on gratitude. Arnold has spearheaded this sporting extravaganza that welcomes fencers. He has always been supportive of fencing and helped this huge annual tournament to thrive. I could wait fifteen minutes for him to arrive. Admittedly, the energy in the room did rise dramatically when he walked in. The man has charisma.

“I want to thank the parents who are 100%, behind you, the kids for exercising and training every day and the coaches because without the coaches we wouldn’t have these expert fencers around,” said Mr. Schwarzenegger from the stage as he addressed the receptive crowd of fencers and supporters. [For video clips from The Arnold Fencing Classic go to: http://youtube.com/user/arnoldfencing.].

With that, the attention returned to the strips where the last of the weekend’s bouts were fought. I enjoyed all of the drama of the sport playing out in a fantastic venue. I wasn’t the only fencer impressed with the proceedings.

"Julia [the event chair] continues to make it better and better each year, and I'm continually impressed on how each year it gets bigger and better and it's just smooth. It's just an awesome event. It's run awesomely. Everybody there has fun, ” said Walt Dragonetti current coach of the Hooked on Fencing Club and organizer of the United States High School Fencing Championship.

He continues, "One of the best things about the Arnold Classic is that it exposes fencing to so many people. Hooked on Fencing in Cleveland, Ohio, two hours north of the Arnold has gotten four members, four members from an event two hours away because people from Cleveland were there, saw fencing, came home and found Hooked on Fencing on the Internet because of the Arnold Classic. Two hours away. That's the public exposure that the Arnold classic has taken to the next level, and fencing needs that." Another top competition coach emailed this comment:

"Congratulations for the excellent tournament; you guys did a wonderful job! It was well-organized, good venue, and well presented. This tournament should be set as an example for all other national level tournaments by the USFA."

Obviously, not all comments were that enthusiastic, but when asked about the most common feedback the event chair Julia Richey says in her best Terminator voice, “I’ll be back.”