The Columbia Lions fencing team is the intercollegiate

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

team for

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

located in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City. The team competes in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

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 student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

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 is affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Membership The IFA has 11 members. Cornell only competes in wome ...

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 saber fencer. Early life Armitage, who was Jewish, was born in Albany, New York. Fencing career College Armitage began fencing for the Columbia L ...

won the

saber championship in 1928,

Emily Jacobson Emily Phillipa Jacobson (born December 2, 1985, in Dunwoody, 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 bor ...

won the NCAA women's saber championship in 2005, and

Daria Schneider Daria Schneider (born 21 May 1987) is an American sabre fencer. She is a five-time National Team member and a team bronze medalist in the 2011 and 2012 World Fencing Championships. Schneider was born in Berkeley, CA, but grew up in Brookline, MA. ...

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 Alen Hadzic (Alen Hadžić; born November 15, 1991) is an American former épée fencer. In 2023, he was ranked 361st in the world in men's epee. He had attended Montclair High School (New Jersey), Montclair High School and Columbia University, co ...

was named as an alternate to the 2021 Olympic team, but was suspended by the

United States Center for SafeSport The United States Center for SafeSport is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2017 under the auspices of the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. SafeSport is tasked with ad ...

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, se ...

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

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the 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 educat ...

investigation.

Notable former fencers

Nicole Ross 2014 Saint-Maur WC teams t105054

(born Norman Cohn; 1907-1972), 6-time Olympic fencer *

Robert Blum Robert Blum (10 November 1807 – 9 November 1848) was a German democratic politician, publicist, poet, publisher, revolutionist and member of the National Assembly of 1848. In his fight for a strong, unified Germany he opposed ethnocentrism a ...

(born 1928), 2-time Olympic fencer *

Bob Cottingham Bob Cottingham (born April 16, 1966) is an American fencer who competed in the sabre events at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics. Raised in Orange, New Jersey playing football and lacrosse, Cottingham got into fencing as a high school student ...

(born 1966), Olympic fencer *

Jacqueline Dubrovich Jacqueline Dubrovich (born July 18, 1994) is an American Foil (fencing), foil Fencing, fencer.

(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 University, ...

(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 Daniel Kellner (born April 16, 1976, in Livingston, New Jersey) is an American Olympic Foil (fencing), foil Fencing, fencer. He has won gold and silver medals at the Pan American Games, and a gold medal at the Maccabiah Games. Early life Kellne ...

(born 1976), Olympic fencer *

Stephen Kovacs Stephen Matias Kovacs (January 4, 1972 – January 15, 2022) was an American saber fencer and fencing coach.

(1972–2022), fencer and coach, charged with

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

, died in prison *

James Margolis James Arthur Margolis (born July 17, 1936) is an American Olympic épée fencer. His brother Don also fenced for Columbia University, coming in third in the NCAA nationals in épée in 1963. Margolis was inducted into the Columbia University A ...

(born 1936), Olympic fencer *

James Melcher James Laurence Melcher (born November 5, 1939) is an American hedge fund manager and former Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual and team épée events at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Early and personal life Melcher grew up in P ...

(born 1939), Olympic fencer * Nzingha Prescod (born 1992), Olympic fencer *

Nicole Ross Nicole Ross (born January 15, 1989) is an American foil fencer. Fencing for the Columbia Lions fencing team, she won the 2010 NCAA individual women's foil title, and was a three time All-American. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she competed in i ...

(born 1989), Olympic fencer *

Hal Scardino Hal Scardino (born Albert Henry Hugh Scardino; December 25, 1984) is an American-British former child actor and producer best known for having played the leading role in the movie ''The Indian in the Cupboard''. He also starred in ''Searching for ...

(born 1984), actor *

(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 fen ...

(born 1980), Olympic fencer * Jeff Spear (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 app ...

(born Kornél Weisz; 1912–1989), Hungarian-American actor * James Leighman Williams (born 1985), Olympic fencer

History

Notable former fencers

Year-by-year results

Men's fencing

Women's fencing

References

External links