The Bryn Mawr College Fencing Club (Vixens) has trained new and experienced fencers since 2004, when it split from a joint program with Swarthmore College. The club currently has 15 to 25 members, around 10 of whom were new this year. Most had no prior fencing experience before joining.
The Vixens practice three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with additional optional sessions throughout the week. The club provides all equipment, which has been accumulated over the last 20 years, for both practices and competitions. Members receive P.E. credit for participation and do not pay dues.
The club fields three squads, one for each weapon: foil, saber and épée. Beginners start with foil, which uses “right of way” rules and scores only with the point of the blade. Saber is faster, with a waist-up target area and similar rules to foil, while in épée the entire body is the target.
Senior Simone Gorman, the club’s president and captain of the épée squad, has been fencing since her freshman year of high school. Gorman emphasized the value of the club’s community, which she described as “kind of like built-in friends.”
“When I was deciding which college to go to, I emailed fencing clubs for the colleges I was visiting and asked if I could fence with them for the day. Seeing how close the fencing community was at Bryn Mawr especially was part of what made me decide to come here,” Gorman said.
Gorman is especially proud of this year’s first-years. “Attendance has been very consistent with them,” she said. “I can see the development and when drills start to click for them, and things start to make sense and get applied at tournaments, especially when fencing new people.”
The Vixens attend five to seven tournaments each semester and compete against both club and varsity teams, including Division I and Division III teams. They are part of the Baltimore Washington Collegiate Fencing Conference (BWCFC), the National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association (NIWFA) and the United States Association of Collegiate Fencing Clubs (USACFC). The BWCFC and NIWFA tournaments typically host East Coast schools, while USACFC’s club championships each spring draws teams from across the country. Usually, nine to 12 members attend each tournament.
Coach Ahren La Londe, who began coaching at the collegiate level in 1996, has worked with the club since 2008. Most of the club’s SGA funding goes toward the coach’s salary, with the remainder covering tournament fees and travel. Gorman said the Vixens have largely been able to maintain normal operations despite their reduced funding due to this year’s budget cuts.
“We do a lot of fundraising, and that also helps fund our tournaments,” she said. “We have a pretty strong alum network, and our alums are often willing to participate in fundraisers or donate.” Gorman added that the club has begun evaluating travel costs and considering which tournaments they might cut or substitute if necessary.
According to Gorman, if the club were a Division III or varsity sport, it would have a permanent space in the gym and newer equipment. The Vixens previously sought funding from the Athletics Department without success. Gorman noted that the NCAA places restrictions on how collegiate club sports can be financed, which may limit the department’s options.
“I think it would be great if Athletics could partially fund club sports, but I do not have high hopes that they will,” Gorman said.
At the same time, she said the club values its status as a student organization. “To an extent we kind of don’t want to be a varsity sport because we don’t want to tell people no,” Gorman said. “As a club, everyone can do it.”
Gorman explained that tournament selection is based on attendance and seniority rather than skill: “There’s no politics. There’s also no people who are like, ‘I really wish I could compete in tournaments but I can’t because I’m just not good enough.’”
Students interested in fencing can follow the Vixens Instagram page at @bmc_vixens or email [email protected].
