For a fencer, the ability to execute swift, light touches with pinpoint accuracy and surgical precision is a skill to take pride in.
The sport is won with intelligence rather than raw strength and speed.
Beginning Fall Semester, a team of 25 will compose Ohio University’s 33rd club sport and first official Olympic fencing team.
The OU Olympic Fencing Club has been a student organization for two years but will become eligible for club-sport funding during the 2012–13 academic year.
In 2010, the club was founded by current president Lyle Wiemerslage, a graduate student studying neuroscience.
“It’s the sport I love,” Wiemerslage said. “I wanted to bring it to Athens.”
Wiemerslage, 29, was the president of the fencing club at the University of Dayton before coming to Ohio University. He has been fencing for 10 years and is an A–rated fencer, the sport’s highest rating.
“Previously, there was no (Olympic) fencing,” he said. “Now we’re the place to fence in Southeast Ohio.”
Practices for the club are held at the Athens Community Center on Sundays, Grover Center on Fridays and at varying times at Ping Center.
The club is open to students, faculty and non-university affiliates who attend classes led by Wiemerslage and the club’s vice president Alastair Plant, a graduate student studying plant biology.
The club dues are $20 a quarter if you need to borrow equipment and $10 if you have your own.
In order to fence, one needs to wear a form-fitting cloth suit and mesh mask to protect their body and face from a choice of three weapons: the foil, sabre, and épée. Each sword has its own set of rules and advantages.
One advantage the club has over others is its equipment, especially its two electronic scorers.
“That’s one of the nice things about our club,” Wiemerslage said, “(The electronic scorers) keep people honest.”
Becoming a club sport involves more than just practicing, though, OU’s club-sport supervisor Sarah Boselovic said.
Other than their own fundraising, club sports teams finance themselves through community service and other various requirements, which earn them Administrative Compliance Program points. One ACP point equals $3.90 from Club Sports.
That includes every club team from water-skiing to synchronized skating.
Once ACP funds are earned, they can be used at the team’s discretion to cover equipment, travel, etc. For instance, club gymnastics traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, this year to compete at nationals, Boselovic said.
The fencing team would compete a little closer to home, going up against clubs in Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. Those states make up the Great Lakes Section of the United States Fencing Association.
When it comes to dueling, Wiemerslage said every fencer has his or her own style.
“The most dangerous person to fence is a total beginner,” Wiemerslage said. “You just have no idea what they are going to do.”
Most fencers pride themselves on a more precise, light and physically demanding style of fighting, but the sport is best executed in the mind, he said, adding that he has seen 13-year-old girls beat 20-year-old men.
Men and women compete against one another in local competitions but separately at the collegiate level.
The team’s ultimate goal is to become an NCAA team, a goal Wiemerslage thinks is achievable in the next two to three years. For now, the organization is available for any level of student participation.
Margaret Miller, a sophomore studying commercial photography, recently learned some basic fencing skills to play a part in a rendition of Romeo and Juliet.
“I would consider (fencing) at OU,” Miller said, “It’s fun exercise.”
mt360307@ohiou.edu