Fencing is not the most popular spectator sport, but it was easily one of Penn's most successful teams last season.
The men's team came just short of an Ivy League Championship and the women swept their tough Ivy League opponents and placed fourth in the NCAA Championships in March.
Both teams are coming off a surprisingly good year, and despite a young women's squad and a men's team that has lost some key players from last season, past success has set some high standards for this year.
"Are we going to have the same record as last year? I think that would be fortunate because everything just fell in for for us last year," said Dave Micahnik, coach of both the men's and women's teams.
"We were surprisingly strong, and we did very well. The men had a very respectable season, and the women had a ridiculously good season."
Winning an Ivy League title for the men and a second consecutive title for the women will be no easy task. Men's and women's teams from Harvard, Princeton and Columbia have brought in new talent, and the Ivy League is home to many of the nation's top fencers.
"To have a championship year [this season] in the Ivy League would be tremendous to put it mildly," Micahnik said.
On top of the men's lineup are senior Stephen Gavalas and sophomore Michael Galligan, both of whom use the foil as their weapon. Gavalas was 21-7 with a 7-2 Ivy League mark for the year and went on to make first-team all-Ivy. Galligan went 26-8 and 6-3 in the league, made second-team all-Ivy, and was first-teamAll-American.
The women are led by junior captain Christina Kaneshige and sophomore Annika Eiremo. Kaneshige, who competes in foil, went 31-6 and made second-team all-Ivy. Eiremo had a fantastic season in sabre, going 41-1 overall with a perfect 9-0 Ivy League record, and made both the first-team all-America and all-Ivy teams.
Both teams have been working hard in the offseason to keep up the high level of play they set for themselves last year. Fencing is a very physical sport, and requires a great deal of athleticism.
"I used to think it was mostly mental but now I think it's mostly physical," Kaneshige said. "I think that if you are not in shape and not training you cannot fence. You can only be so smart to be a fencer; a lot of it is muscle memory."
"I think it also depends on the person," Eiremo said. "Some people can plan what they are going to do a lot, and that's why they win. Whereas other people ... don't really plan, I rely on my legs to get me out of there. You really can't be out of shape."
According to assistant coach Iosif Vitebskiy, a practice or meet involves miles worth of running.
Micahnik dispelled the popular myth that fencing is similar to chess.
"It's more nearly boxing than chess. It's certainly not graceful like ballet, it's not rehearsable, it's not perfectible. It's totally about the other person; it's combat.
"It's extremely aggressive; I think it's really fun to watch. It can be really intense and heated," Micahnik replied when asked what the common person should know about fencing.
Eiremo simply replied "we actually do have matches that you can watch!"
The Quakers have their first meet of 2005 this Saturday at Penn State, and start their Ivy League schedule next Saturday at Yale. The first of only two home matches this season is Sunday, Jan. 30 when they host Rutgers. The other is on Feb. 9 when the men host Princeton and the women host Princeton and Temple.
