The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team’s Center of Excellence in Park City was filled with the sounds of clashing swords Thursday as ski and snowboard athletes tried their hand at fencing.
There are three fencing disciplines: saber, foil and épée. Each has slightly different uniforms and swords, but for Thursday’s demonstration, ski and snowboard athletes donned the trademark screened masks and white uniforms worn by épée fencers.
After some coaching from two-time Olympic men’s foil bronze medalist Nick Itkin and women’s épée team member Anne Cebula, athletes were ready for their first matches.
Moguls rising star Alli Macuga and 2022 Olympic aerials skier Winter Vinecki were one of the first pairs to face off. Macuga said she always watches fencing during the summer Olympics, but didn’t realize how much went into the sport.
“Being that person with the full suit on and the weapon is scary, like, that's intimidating, even though it's not sharp, you're getting hit,” she said.
Vinecki said her wrist got tired throughout their match and she had to switch her grip technique.
“Instead of the finger-pointing technique, I had to switch to the thumb because my forearm was starting to get tired,” she said. “I was getting a little loosey goosey with my weapon.”
Cebula said she tried to share analogies with the first-timers, likening fencing to boxing, as both sports involve distance timing and feints, deceptive movements used to fake out an opponent.
“It was really almost beautiful to see,” she said. “The guys picked up on that immediately. One of them was a boxer, and they timed that initial touch very intuitively as a fencer.”
Macuga and Vinecki have done athlete crossovers like this before with the U.S. women’s soccer team and the Utah Black Diamonds pickleball team.
Macuga said it’s always fun to experience other athletes' Olympic journeys.
“Even though all of our sports are so different, we're all going through kind of the same process, like, we're all training, we're all competing, and just to meet with other athletes and, like, learn more about their sports I think is so cool to just kind of see their world of it.”
Cebula agreed.
“It's nice to come to a hub like this, and immediately have that connection with people and understand that they're in the same, I guess kind of lifestyle flow of grinding, training, eating, sleeping, breathing, living and loving your sport,” Cebula said.
But the visit wasn’t just for fun — it was also to raise awareness of the sport. Cebula said most fencing athletes in North America train in New York or L.A., but USA Fencing wants to expand beyond those hubs.
To do that, USA Fencing has launched school and club initiatives across the country. That’s how Cebula got her start; the high school she attended in New York City had a fencing club, so she tried it out at 15 years old.
But her passion for fencing started five years before that when she saw a U.S. vs. Russia men’s saber match at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
“It was an overtime hit, and he hits it, I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It was operatic. He threw off his mask. He's roaring,” Cebula said. “I was like, ‘What is this? Why have I never seen this before? I want to do that on that stage.’”
Cebula made that dream come true at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During a second crossover event Friday, Cebula and Itkin also had a chance to try out ski jumping at the Utah Olympic Park.
