The World Veterans Fencing Championships are a testament to the statement that athletes can compete in fencing well into their 60’s and beyond.
More than 250 fencers from 22 countries will gather in Sydney for the 11th staging of the veterans event, with two age divisions across the three weapons (foil, epee, and sabre): Category A is the 50-59 age division and Category B is the 60+ age division.
The USFA is pleased to announce its team to the Veteran World Championships, to take place in Sydney, Australia, September 14-16, 2007.
The members of the U.S. team were selected at the Summer National Championships in July in Miami, Fla. based on the two best results at two North American Cup Veterans tournaments and the Summer National Age Category Championships.
Forty-six U.S. athletes will compete from clubs around the country. Many team members have won medals in previous Championships, including the 2006 60+ Men’s Saber World Champion, Paul Apostol.
Apostol is also a two-time Olympian, and placed 8th at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. He is a father of four and a coach for the
Ramapo High School fencing team in New Jersey.
For some, fencing is only one sport among many. Pat Bedrosian (65, Malibu, Calif.) is a brown belt in jujitsu. Dick Richards (51, Burtonsville, Md.) placed third in 1999 at the Nike World Masters Golf competition. Others run marathons, dance, and more.
Many have trouble fitting fencing into their fascinating lives. Rinaldo Campana (61, McLean, Va.), a native of Switzerland, is the former head of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Counterterrorism Unit for the FBI and is currently a security specialist for the State Department. Sherry Green (69, Portland, Ore.), a doula, has lived through not only a major plane crash in 1954 but the 2004 Asian tsunami.
Others are scientists (Bettie Graham, 65, Washington, D.C.), editors (Patricia Bedrosian, 65, Malibu, Calif.), illustrators (Jane Eyre, 53, Mickleton, N.J.), or policemen (Paul Hicha, 50, Mesa, Ariz.). Captain Paul Levy (70, Lawrenceville, N.J.), a two-time competitor at the Championships, is retired from the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey.
The first World Veteran’s Fencing Championships took place in 1998. The Championships are held by the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime, the international fencing federation. A veteran’s men’s épée demonstration event was held at the 1997 World Championships in Capetown, South Africa. Women’s foil was added to the program and the events became an official Championships in 1998. The Championships expanded to five weapons in 1999: men’s foil, women’s foil, men’s épée, women’s épée and men’s saber, and added women’s saber in 2005.
Stay tuned for results from the exciting competition. See schedule below for event times and locations. The competition’s website can be found at www.wvfc07.org.
U.S. ROSTER
| Veteran 50-59 |
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Men’s Epee | Robert Chidel (57, Chicago | Rinaldo A. Campana (61, McLean, Va./NIHFC) |
| Robert Cochrane Jr. (56, Hobe Sound, Fla./Palm Beach F.C.) | Kazimieras Campe (70, Edgewater, Md./D.C.F.C.) |
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| Walt Dragonetti (50, Elyria, Ohio/Hooked On Fencing) | Robert J. Lipp (60, Los Gatos, Calif./Cardinal F.C.) |
| Dick Richards (51, Burtonsville, Md./D.C.F.C.) | Ray Sexton III (64, Round Rock, Texas) |
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Men’s Foil | Stephen Gross (51, Fairfax | James Adams (67, Rockville, Md./D.C.F.C.) |
| Thomas Lutton (53, Waltham, Mass./Boston F.C.) | Rinaldo Campana (61, Mc.Lean, Va./Nat. Inst. Of Health F.C.) |
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| Glenn Pantel (53, Mendham, N.J./Medeo F.C.) | Jan Patterson (60, Seattle, Wash./Salle Auriol Seattle) |
| Frank Thomiszer (53, Nicholasville, Ky./Bluegrass F.C.) | |
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Men’s Saber | Paul Hicha (50, Mesa, Ariz./Salle Diablo) | Paul Apostol (61, Wyckoff, N.J./Fencers Club) |
| Rod Meagher (50, Green Island, N.Y./Wicked Cool F.C.) | Peter Calderon (64, /DCFC) |
| Joseph Streb (55, Columbus, Ohio/Cols. F.C.) | Alexander Kovacs (60, Centennial, Colo./Colo. Fenc. Acad.) |
| Wang Yung (57, Bellevue, Wash./Salle Auriole Seattle) | Ray Sexton III (64, Round Rock, Texas |
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Women’s Epee | Marianne Bosco (53, Harvest, Ala./Salle Bosco) | Patricia Bedrosian (66, Malibu, Calif./Salle Couturier) |
| Sally Still Gonsalves (51, Ocean Ridge, Fla./Palm Beach F.C.) | Bettie Graham (66, Washington, D.C./Chevy Chase F.C.) |
| June Hurme (53, San Antonio, Texas/ATAC/AFA) | Diane Kallus (61, Round Rock, Texas) |
| Paula Straka (52, Philadelphia, Pa./Fenc. Acad. Phila.) | Kathryn Rubin (61, Waban, Mass./Pris de Fer) |
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Women’s Foil | Judith Offerle (54, Winnetka, Ill./Chicago Ath. Assoc F.C.) | Patricia Bedrosian (64, |
| Heidi Runyan (52, San Diego, Calif./Spartak) | Bettie Graham (66, Washington, D.C./Chevy Chase F.C.) |
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| Ellen O’Leary (65, Decatur, Ga./ Atlanta F.C.) |
| Anne-Marie Walters (53, Mitchellville, Md./Nat. Inst. Health F.C.) |
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Women’s Saber | Jeannine Bender (54, West New York, N.J./Fencers Club) | Sherry (Charlotte) Green (69, Portland, Ore./Ore. |
| Jane Eyre (53, Medford, N.J./F.A. S. Jersey) | Diane Kallus (61, Round Rock, Texas) |
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| Ellen O’Leary (65, Decatur, Ga./Atlanta F.C.) |
| Heidi Runyan (52, San Diego, Calif./SPARTAK) |
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Cadre:
Team Captain: Paul Levy Lawrenceville, N.J.
Volunteer Armorer: Scott Harkey, Shreveport, La.
Referees to the Championships from the U.S.: Damon Scaggs, Sharon Everson
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
2007 VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls
Friday 14 September
8:30 am: Foil Women Category A (50-59)
8:50 am: Sabre Men Category A (50-59)
12:50 pm: Foil Men Category B (60+)
1:10 pm: Sabre Women Category B (60+)
Saturday 15 September
8:30 am: Epee Men Category A (50-59
8:50 am: Foil Women Category B (60+)
11:50 am: Epee Women Category A (50-59)
12:50 pm: Sabre Men Category B (60+)
Sunday 16 September
8:30 am: Epee Men Category B (60+)
8:50 am: Epee Women Category B (60+)
12:30 pm: Sabre Women Category A (50-59)
12:50 pm: Foil Men Category A (50-59)
