New faces join with our Olympic veterans on the quest to best the 6 medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The US Fencing Team heads off to Antalya, Turkey for the 2009 Senior World Championships September 30th – October 8th.
The overriding question: With a field full of fencers from all of the traditional European powers and the retirement of a large portion of the Olympic squad, can the US team continue to establish itself as one of the world’s new fencing powers?
Meet the 2009 US World Championship Fencing Team:
{sidebar id=1} Women’s Sabre: The women’s sabre team’s only holdover from the competitors at the 2008 Olympics is Mariel Zagunis. Zagunis and Olympic team alternate Dagmara Wozniak join forces with Monica Aksamit and Daria Schneider to lead the 3rd ranked women’s sabre squad.
 | Mariel Zagunis – Ranked 1st in the world in the individual point standings Mariel comes into the world championships winning gold at 4 of her last 5 events and her worst finish this year was 5th at the Moscow Grand Prix. Mariel has her sights set on the gold medal in London 2012 and will look to set the pace for the quad with a victory here. |
 | Dagmara Wozniak – FIE WR: 20. The 4th member of the 2008 Olympic team, she did not get to compete and, unfortunately, did not earn a medal in the team competition. (A slight that impacted several teams in Beijing.) Dagmara took 24th at the 2007 World Championships and earned two top-8 world cup finishes this season. |
 | Monica Aksamit – FIE WR: 17. Monica took 29th at the Junior world championships and earned a silver medal at the Havana world cup in June. This is her first time representing the US at the Senior World Championships. |
 | Daria Schneider – FIE WR: 22. Daria’s finishes range from 63rd in London to a 17th place finish at the Havana world cup. Daria has been competing for the US in Junior and Senior world cups since the 2002-2003 season but this will be her first Senior Worlds. |
Men’s Sabre: The Olympic silver medal team faces the world championships without their closer, Keeth Smart. Tim Morehouse and James Williams
| Tim Morehouse – FIE WR: 13. When Tim is not working the crowds and gaining PR for himself and fencing, he’s travelling the globe in a quest to better his 22nd place finish in Beijing. Tim achieved two 3rd place world cup wins this season and only missed the top 32 one time. |  |
| Ben Igoe – FIE WR: 16. Ben started off the season with a 3rd place finish at the Budapest Grand Prix along with two top-10 finishes at world cups in Madrid (9th) and Dallas (6th). This is Ben’s first time on the world championship squad. | |
| James Williams – FIE WR 25. James is the second member of the 2008 Olympic squad to earn a trip as a starter on the team. James took 20th at the Dallas world cup. His best finish at the senior level was 8th at the Moscow world cup in the 2007/08 season. |  |
| Daryl Homer – FIE WR 71. Daryl was a member of the 2009 Junior World Championship team and took 3rd place in the Junior World Championships. On the senior circuit, Daryl has notched up two top 16 finishes in his 4 senior world cups this season. |  |
| Jason Rogers (Training Partner) – Jason has been competing at the world championships since the 2002/03 season. He missed out on the cut for this year’s championships in a very tight points race. He will be attending as a training partner for the US squad and lend his experience to this group. |  |
Women’s Foil: The women’s foil team features none of Beijing’s starters. The current team is ranked 4th in the world, but had a best finish of 8th place in two Grand Prix team events since the Olympics. Doris Willette, who was a team alternate in Beijing, is the sole Olympian on the squad.
 | Nzihgha Prescod – FIE WR 21. The two time Cadet World Champion steps up two age classifications into the seniors. Prescod finished 8th at this year’s Junior World Championships and earned a top 16 finish in Gdansk (15th). This will be Prescod’s first senior championships and will give her a taste of what to expect as she sets her sights on London. |
 | Ambika Singh – FIE WR: 35. Singh competed in 4 world cup events this year with finishes ranging from 64th in Gdansk to 32nd in Turin. |
 | Lee Kiefer – FIE WR: 175. Another cadet fencer, Kiefer took 2nd at the Cadet World Championships and 18th in Juniors. Her sole senior event this year was a 21st finish in Dallas. |
 | Doris Willette – FIE WR: 208. Doris took 5th at the Junior World Championships but only fenced in one senior event this season, placing 62nd in Gdansk. |
Men’s Foil: Ranked 9th, the US Men’s Foil squad is young like the women’s squad, but does boast Olympian Gerek Meinhardt. Since Beijing only featured the individual event, Gerek doesn’t yet have a championship team event under his belt.
| Gerek Meinhardt – FIE WR:11 The youngest member of the US Olympic team, Gerek showed promise in Beijing finishing 10th and is working towards London. He took bronze at the Junior World Championships and two top-8 finishes this season on the senior circuit. |  |
| Kurt Getz – FIE WR: 13th. Kurt is right behind Meinhardt on the FIE points list and had 4 top-10 finishes this season including 5th place at both Havana and Espinho. | |
| Miles Chamley-Watson – FIE WR: 22. Miles took 10th at the Junior World Championships and ended the senior season strong with an 8th place finish in Havana followed by 3rd in Estado Vargas. |  |
| Alex Massialas – FIE WR: 47. Alex fenced in the Junior World Championships, finishing 24th. His season at the Senior level showed a few top-32 finishes including 15th at the CIP Grand Prix in Paris. |  |
Women’s Epee:
Coming in to the event ranked 7th in the world after their gold medal performance at the Pan American Games, the Women’s Epee team is also new after not being featured in the Beijing games. The squad has one top 8 result from the world cup in Doha back in January.
| Lindsay Campbell – FIE WR: 30. The silver medalist at the Pan Ams, Lindsay is the eldest member of the women’s epee squad. Lindsay competed in a number of international competitions so far this season with a top 16 finish at the Barcelona world cup in February. | |
 | Kelley Hurley – FIE WR: 51. Lefty Kelly Hurley is ranked deceptively low going in to this year’s championship. After her 2008 Beijing Olympic appearance, she competed in 1 World Cup A and 1 Grand Prix this season. Kelley finished 5th at the Pan Ams this year. |
 | Courtney Hurley – FIE WR: 29. Kelly’s right-handed little sister is both the youngest and highest ranked fencer on the squad. She is the current champion of the Pan American Games and after two gold medals in Junior World Cup competition, is ranked second in the world for juniors this season. |
 | Susannah Scanlan – FIE WR: 168. Susannah brought home the gold at the Junior competition in Budapest this season, along with 2 other top 16 finishes. She is currently the 13th ranked junior fencer in the world. |
Men’s Epee: The epee squad just missed out on the team event in Beijing and is currently ranked 12th going into the world championships. This season the epee team notched up a 3rd place finish in Legnano and 7th in Doha. The men’s epee squad boasts the most international and team experience as these fencers have been together for several years.
| Seth Kelsey – FIE WR: 7. Seth finished 17th at the Olympics after a bad draw against France’s Jeannet. This season he had 3 top-8 finishes including 3rd place at Legnano and Buenos Aires. |  |
| Cody Mattern – FIE WR: 26. Cody was Seth’s training partner in Beijing and finished 10th in Berne this season. In his previous world championships in St. Petersburg (2007) he finished 34th. | |
| Benjamin Bratton – FIE WR: 91. Ben placed 7th at the Montreal World Cup this past May. He’s been to the world championships before with a showing in Turin in 2006. |  |
| Eric Hansen – FIE WR: 71. Eric makes his return to the world championship team. He was last a member of the US senior world championship team in 2003. This season Eric competed in 7 World Cup / Grand Prix events with his best a 24th place finish in Montreal. |
Discuss the 2009 Fencing World Championships at the Forums.
Note: All rankings are based on the 2008/2009 season rankings set forth on the FIE official site at http://www.fie.ch. The 2009/2010 rankings do not include the 2008 Olympics points which are usually included when seeding for world championships.
For more information on the athletes, visit the US Fencing Athlete Profiles page here.
Michael Green also contributed to this article.
