Home Foil Fencing
Museum of American Fencing | Tuesday, 07 September 2010
US National Men's Foil Champions
1888-2007
1888 William Thornton Lawson
1889 Bernard Francis O'Connor
1890 Samuel T. Shaw
1891 Graeme Monroe Hammond
1892 William Scott O'Connor
1893 William T. Heintz
1894 Charles George Bothner
1895 Albertson Van Zo Post
1896 Georges Kavanagh
1897 Charles George Bothner* *
(He won the epee and sabre titles as well)
1898 WAR - NO CONTEST
1899 Georges Kavanagh
1900 Charles Fitzhugh Townsend
1901 Charles Tatham
1902 James P. Parker
1903 Charles Fitzhugh Townsend
1904 Charles George Bothner
1905 Charles George Bothner
1906 Scott Dudley Breckinridge
1907 Camille Waldbott
1908 William Law Bowman
1909 Oliver A. Dickinson
1910 George K. Bainbridge
1911 George Horace Breed
1912 Sherman Hall
1913 Paul Julien Meylan
1914 Scott Dudley Breckinridge
1915 Oliver A. Dickinson
1916 Alfred Ernest Sauer
1917 Sherman Hall
1918 WAR - NO CONTEST
1919 Sherman Hall
1920 Sherman Hall
1921 Major Francis Webster Honeycutt
1922 Major Harold Marvin Rayner
1923 Rene Peroy
1924 Leo George Nunes
1925 Lieutenant George Charles Calnan
1926 Lieutenant George Charles Calnan
1927 Lieutenant George Charles Calnan
1928 Lieutenant George Charles Calnan
1929 Joseph Louis Levis
1929 - outdoor Joseph Levis
1930 Lieutenant George Charles Calnan
1931 Lieutenant George Charles Calnan
1932 Joseph Louis Levis
(Lt.George Calnan killed in air crash
prior to '33 Nationals)
1933 Joseph Louis Levis
1933 - outdoor Joseph Levis
1934 Hugh Vincent Alessandroni
1935 Joseph Louis Levis
1936 Hugh Vincent Alessandroni
1937 Joseph Louis Levis
1938 Dernell Every
1939 Norman Lewis
1940 Dernell Every
1941 Dean Victor Cetrulo
1942 Warren Alvin Dow
1943 Warren Alvin Dow
1944 Alfred Rex Snyder
1945 Dernell Every
1946 Jose Raoul deCapriles
1947 Dean Victor Cetrulo
1948 Bennet Nathaniel Lubell
1949 Dr. Daniel Bukantz
1950 Silvio Louis Giolito
1951 Silvio Louis Giolito
1952 Dr. Daniel Bukantz
1953 Dr. Daniel Bukantz
1954 Joseph Louis Levis
(won title after 17 years in retirement)
1955 Albert Axelrod
1956 Sewall Shurtz
1957 Dr. Daniel Bukantz
1958 Albert Axelrod
1959 Ensign Joseph Paletta, Jr.
1960 Albert Axelrod
1961 Lawrence Joseph Anastasi
1962 Edwin Allen Richards
1963 Edwin Allen Richards
1964 Herbert Morris Cohen
1965 Robert Boyer Russell
1966 Max Geuter
1967 Heizaburo Okawa
1968 Heizaburo Okawa
1969 Carl Lewis Borack
1970 Albert Axelrod
1971 Uriah Jones
1972 Joseph Bertham Freeman
1973 Edward Pennington Ballinger
1974 Heik Hambarzumian
1975 Edward Pennington Ballinger
1976 Lieutenant Edward Joseph Donofrio
1977 Michael Anthony Marx
1978 Martin Lang
1979 Michael Anthony Marx
1980 Gregory David Massialas
1981 Mark Jeffrey Troy Smith
1982 Michael Anthony Marx
1983 Mark Jeffrey Troy Smith
1984 Michael J. W. McCahey
1985 Michael Anthony Marx
1986 Michael Anthony Marx
1987 Michael Anthony Marx
1988 Gregory David Massialas
1989 Peter Bramwell Henry Lewison
1990 Michael Anthony Marx
1991 Eric Oliver Bravin
1992 Eric Oliver Bravin
1993 Michael Anthony Marx
1994 Eric Oliver Bravin
1995 Cliff Bayer
1996 Eric Oliver Bravin
1997 Cliff Bayer
1998 Cliff Bayer
1999 Jon Tiomkin
2000 Cliff Bayer
2001 Sean McClain
2002 Jon Tiomkin
2003 Jon Tiomkin
2004 Dan Kellner
2005 Jed Dupree
2006 Andras Horanyi
2007 Gerek Meinhardt
US National Women's Foil Champions
1912-2007
1912 Dr. Adelaide Baylis
1913 Mrs. Wm. H. Dewar
1914 Margaret Stimson
1915 Jessie Pyle
1916 Alice Voorhees
1917 Florence S. Walton
1918 WAR- NO CONTEST
1919 NO CONTEST FOR WOMEN
1920 Adeline Gehrig
1921 Adeline Gehrig
1922 Adeline Gehrig
1923 Adeline Gehrig
1924 Irma Hopper
1925 Florence Schoonmaker
1926 Florence Schoonmaker
1927 Stephanie Stern
1928 Marion Lloyd
1929 Florence Schoonmaker
1930 Elizabeth Van Buskirk
1931 Marion Lloyd
1932 Dorothy Locke
1933 Dorothy Locke
1933 (Outdoor) Helene Mayer
1934 Helene Mayer
1935 Helene Mayer
1936 Joanna De Tuscan
1937 Helene Mayer
1938 Helene Mayer
1939 Helene Mayer
1940 Helena Mroczkowska Dow
1941 Helene Mayer
1942 Helene Mayer
1943 Helena Mroczkowska Dow
1944 Madeline Dalton
1945 Maria Cerra
1946 Helene Mayer
1947 Helena Mroczkowska Dow
1948 Helena Mroczkowska Dow
1949 Polly Craus
1950 Janice York (Romary)
1951 Janice York (Romary)
1952 Maxine Mitchell
1953 Paula Sweeney
1954 Maxine Mitchell
1955 Maxine Mitchell
1956 Janice York Romary
1957 Janice York Romary
1958 Maxine Mitchell
1959 Pilar Roldan
(Romary had a baby - did not compete)
1960 Janice York Romary
1961 Janice York Romary
1962 E. Takeuchi
1963 Harriet King
1964 Janice York Romary
1965 Janice York Romary
1966 Janice York Romary
1967 Harriet King
1968 Janice York Romary
1969 Ruth White
1970 Harriet King
1971 Harriet King
1972 Ruth White
1973 Tatyana Pavlovna Adamovitch
1974 Gay Jacobsen
1975 Nikki Tomlinson
1976 Ann O'Donnell
1977 Sheila Armstrong
1978 Gay Jacobsen D'Asaro
1979 Jana Angelakis
1980 Nikki Tomlinson Franke
1981 Jana Angelakis
1982 Jana Angelakis
1983 Debra Lynn Waples
1984 Vincent Hayden Bradford
1985 Molly Sullivan
1986 Caitlin Kelly Bilodeaux
1987 Caitlin Kelly Bilodeaux
1988 Sharon Mary Monplaisir
1989 Caitlin Kelly Bilodeaux
1990 Jennifer Yu
1991 Mary Jane O'Neill
1992 Caitlin Kelly Bilodeaux
1993 Felicia Zimmermann
1994 Ann Marsh
1995 Ann Marsh
1996 Felicia Zimmermann
1997 Iris Zimmermann
1998 Erinn Smart
1999 Felicia Zimmermann
2000 Felicia Zimmermann
2001 Iris Zimmermann
2002 Erinn Smart
2003 Iris Zimmermann
2004 Erinn Smart
2005 Hanna Thompson
2006 Emily Cross
2007 Erinn Smart
Women's Foil Olympians
Best Non-Medaling Olympic Performances
4th Place WF 1948
Maria Cerra (Tishman) (3-way tie for 2nd)
4th Place WF 1952
Janice Lee York (Romary)
4th Place WF 1956
Janice Lee York (Romary)
4th Place WFT 2000
Ann Marsh, Felicia Zimmermann, Iris Zimmermann
5th Place WF 1952
Maxine Mitchell
6th Place WFT 1984
Vincent Bradford, Jana Angelakis, Debra Waples, Sharon Monplaiser, Sue Badders
6th Place WFT 1988
7th Place WF 1996
Ann Marsh
8th Place WF 1932
Marion Lloyd (Vince)
Men's Foil Olympians
Men's Individual Foil
1904 Albertson Van Zo Post, Silver
1904 Charles Tatham, Bronze
1932 Joseph Levis, Silver
1960 Albert Axelrod, Bronze
Men's Team Foil
1904 Albertson Van Zo Post, Gold w/ Cuban Team
1904 Charles Tatham, Silver
1904 Fitzhugh Townsend, Silver
1904 Arthur Fox, Silver
1920 Henry Breckinridge, Bronze
1920 Francis Honeycutt, Bronze
1920 Arthur Lyon, Bronze
1920 Harold Rayner, Bronze
1920 Robert Sears, Bronze
1932 George Calnan, Bronze
1932 Joseph Levis, Bronze
1932 Hugh Alessandroni, Bronze
1932 Dernell Every, Bronze
1932 Richard Steere, Bronze
1932 Frank Righeimer, Bronze
*the total figure of 42 medals includes individual fencers in team events
Best Non-Medaling Olympic Performances
4th Place MFT 1948
Daniel Bukantz, Dean Victor Cetrulo, Dernell Every, Silvio Louis Giolito, Bennet Nathaniel Lubell, Austin Martin Prokop
4th Place MFT 1956
Albert Axelrod, Daniel Bukantz, Harold David Goldsmith, Byron Lester Krieger, Bennet Nathaniel, Lubell, Sewall Shurtz
4th Place MFT 2004
Jed Dupree, Dan Kellner, Jon Tiomkin
5th Place MFT 1928
George Charles Calnan, Rene Peroy, Joseph Louis Levis, Harold Marvin Rayner, Henry Cabell Breckinridge, Dernell Every
5th Place MFT 1936
Joseph Louis Levis, Hugh Vincent Alessandroni, John F. Potter, John Gavin Hurd, Warren Alvin Dow, William Thomas Pecora
5th Place MFT 1960
Albert Axelrod, Daniel Bukantz, Eugene Gerson Glazer, Harold David Goldsmith, Joseph Paletta, Jr.
5th Place MFT 1984
Peter Bramwell, Henry Lewison, Gregory David Massialas, Michael Anthony Marx, Mark Jeffrey, Troy Smith
10 Titles
Janice Lee York Romary: 1950, 1951, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968
This record tops all men and women in United States foil history.
1 Title
Dr. Adelaide Baylis 1912
Mrs. Wm. H. Dewar 1913
Margaret Stimson 1914
Jessie Pyle 1915
Alice Voorhees 1916
Florence S. Walton 1917
|Irma Hopper 1924
Stephanie Stern 1927
Elizabeth Van Buskirk 1930
Joanna De Tuscan 1936
Madeline Dalton 1944
Maria Cerra 1945
Polly Craus 1949
Paula Sweeney 1953
Pilar Roldan 1959
E. Takeuchi 1962
Tatyana Pavlovna Adamovitch 1973
Ann O'Donnell 1976
Sheila Armstrong 1977
Debra Lynn Waples 1983
Vincent Hayden Bradford 1984
Molly Sullivan 1985
Sharon Mary Monplaisir 1988
Jennifer Yu 1990
Mary Jane O'Neill
Hanna Thompson 2005
Emily Cross 2006
*"out" refers to United States Outdoor
National Foil competitions, held twice
in AFLA/USFA history.
Men's Foil Record Holders
8 Titles
Joseph Louis Levis: 1929, 1929 out*, 1932, 1933, 1933 out*, 1935, 1937, 1954
Michael Anthony Marx: 1977, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1993
6 Titles
George Charles Calnan: 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931
4 Titles
Charles George Bothner: 1894, 1897+, 1904, 1905
Sherman Hall: 1912, 1917, 1919, 1920
Daniel Bukantz: 1949, 1952, 1953, 1957
Albert Axelrod: 1955, 1958, 1960, 1970
Eric Oliver Bravin: 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996
Cliff S. Bayer: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000
2 Titles
Georges Kavanagh: 1896, 1899
Fitzhugh Townsend: 1900, 1903
Scott Dudley Breckinridge: 1906, 1914
Oliver A. Dickinson: 1909, 1915
Hugh Vincent Alessandroni: 1934, 1936
Dean Victor Cetrulo: 1941, 1947
Warren Alvin Dow: 1942, 1943
Silvio Louis Giolito: 1950, 1951
Edwin Allan Richards: 1962, 1963
Heizaburo Okawa: 1967, 1968
Edward Pennington Ballinger: 1973, 1975
Gregory David D. Massialas: 1980, 1988
Mark Jeffrey Troy Smith: 1981, 1983
1 Title
William Thornton Lawson 1888
Bernard Francis O'Connor 1889
Samuel T. Shaw 1890
Graeme Monroe Hammond 1891
William Scott O'Connor 1892
William T. Heintz 1893
Albertson Van Zo Post 1895
Charles Tatham 1901
James P. Parker 1902
Camille Waldbott 1907
William Law Bowman 1908
George K. Bainbridge 1910
George Horace Breed 1911
Paul Julien Meylan 1913
Alfred Ernest Sauer 1916
Francis Webster Honeycutt 1921
Harold Marvin Rayner 1922
Rene Peroy 1923
Leo George Nunes 1924
Norman Lewis 1939
Alfred Rex Snyder 1944
Jose Raoul deCapriles 1946
Bennet Nathaniel Lubell 1948
Sewall Shurtz 1956
Joseph Paletta, Jr. 1959
Lawrence Joseph Anastasi 1960
Robert Boyer Russell 1965
Max Geuter 1966
Carl Lewis Borack 1969
Uriah Jones 1971
Joseph Bertham Freeman 1972
Edward Joseph Donofrio 1976
Martin Lang 1978
Michael J. W. McCahey 1984
Peter Bramwell Henry Lewison 1989
Sean McClain 2001
Dan Kellner 2004
Jed Dupree 2005
Andras Horanyi 2006
Gerek Meinhardt 2007
*"out" refers to United States Outdoor
National Foil competitions, held twice
in AFLA/USFA history.
+ only fencer in history to win
all 3 weapons in the same year.
Raw, unedited silent newsreel footage of the Thompson Trophy competition between US and UK fencers in 1926. Lt. Harold Van Buskirk fencing Maj. G. V. Dyer of British team. Closeup of Van Buskirk demonstrating sabre guards. Dyer congratulates Americans. Close up of Henry Breckinridge in a suit congratulating the British captain with the 4 US competitors standing in rear: Harold Van Buskirk, George Calnan, Leo Nunes and Arthur St. Clair Lyon.
Hugh Alessandroni (being inducted into the US Fencing
Hall of Fame 2010) against Joe Levis (also in the Hall of Fame) This
photo was a gift from Robert Levis, son of Joe Levis.
Italian footage of AFLA in San Francisco, July 1939. The first director shown (in suit) is Harold Van Buskirk. Competitors seen include Norman Lewis and Helene Mayer.
US Pan Am Games foil team champs in 1959.
l to r - Joseph Paletta, Albert Axelrod, Gene Glazer, Harold Goldsmith, Ed Richards, Roland Wommack, Ralph Goldstein
SUMMER OLYMPICS: Foiled once, Bravin focuses on team From - Palo Alto Online by Williams Cracraft
If experience counts for anything, Stanford graduate Nick Bravin should be in
pretty good shape at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Bravin, a three-time
NCAA champion and winner of four U.S. crowns in the foil, is the old man of the
U.S. Olympic fencing team at age 25.
Hugh Alessandroni attended Columbia University where he learned to
fence under the Hall of Fame coach, James Murray. After earning a
degree in Chemical Engineering and qualifying for 2 US Olympic teams,
he led a team of engineers who invented the 1st electrical epee scoring
device used in Olympic history (1936).
"My goal was to serve as a role model for these kids. I felt that if I
could touch just one or two kids, than my day was totally justified
there." said Bayer. "The kids had a lot of questions. They really
wanted to know what it took to make it to the Olympics and what the
Olympic trials were like, for fencing and other sports."
Charles Bothner won thirteen US championships - 11 individual and two team. In 1897, he was champion in Foil, Sabre, and Epee - a record that is unlikely ever to be approached again. He represented the Pastime Athletic Club and the NYAC.
When it comes to wielding steel, Nick Bravin ranks among the best with
a sword in North America. The Los Angeles native is a four-time U.S.
National Champion, a three-time NCAA National Champion, and a two-time
U.S. Olympian.
(1906-1994) - AFLA national foil champion (1938, '40, '45). Member,
U.S. Olympic team (1928, '32, '40, '48). He won the Olympic bronze
medal in Men's foil team in 1932. Secretary of the AFLA (1941-45 and
1948-52); president of the AFLA (1945-48). Editor, "The Riposte"
(newsletter) (1941-45). IFA foil champion for Yale (1927, 1928).
He received the Detroit Sports Guild Outstanding Athlete Award in 1951 and was elected to the Michigan Amateur Sports Hall of Fame in 1974. Wayne State University Hall of Fame 1976, Michigan Jewish Hall of Fame 1986
Hall of Famer, US Saber National champion and US Team
captain Jack Keane advising US foil Olympian Peter Lewison at the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympic Games.
Photo by Robert Millard
Sean McClain pictured with the 1995 Pan Am men's foil team. Sean was 2-time U.S. champion (foil & epee), 4-time Jr.
Olympic champion (foil & epee), and Empire United fencing coach in
New York City
Foil Prodigy Gerek Meinhardt Signs On To Join Notre Dame Fencing Program In 2008-09
Seventeen-year-old San Francisco native currently ranked number one
among all U.S. men's foilists; also second in world under-20 rankings. Article from CSTV.com
1931 Amazons of the Foil" American's Champion swordswomen meet brittan's best in 'clash of steel' for international honours. Features footage of three female American foilists: Ms. Marion Lloyd (later Mrs. Joseph Vince), the current US Women's Foil Champion; Miss Locke, and Miss Burnside. Also three female British foilists: Miss Peggy Butler, Miss Nelligan, and Miss Pollock-Smith. Video courtesy of schlager7
Grace Acel was 3 times the National Intercollegiate Womens Fencing Association Champion, was 2nd to Maxine Mitchell in the U.S. Nationals in 1954 and was a member of the U.S. Team for the Pan American Games in 1955. Her Coach was Giorgio Santelli
Jana won the Jr. Olympic Under 20 foil title 4 times (the first time when she was only 14), the U-19 National foil title 5 times, NCAA foil champion, won the Pan Am Games gold medal with the US foil team in 1983, US national foil champion 3 times, andwas a member of 2 Olympic teams (1980 & 1984).
USFA national foil champion (1984); national epee champion (1982, '83,'84, '86).
NIWFA foil champion (1975,'77) for San Jose State. Assistant Director USFA Coaches College. Coach, Texas Fencing Academy.
Joanna
deTuscan is the first American woman ever to hold a World Foil title
which she won in 1939 in London capturing the World Professional Foil
title.
(1917-1998) - AFLA national foil champion (1940, '43, '47, '48). Member, U.S. Olympic team (1948). Coach of Fairleigh Dickinson University (Rutherford) (1968-71). NIWFA foil champion for Hofstra (1939).
A four-time national women's fencing champion, King was a
member of the US Olympic team four times. She fenced at Hunter College from
1953 to 1957. She was also a member of the USA Pan-American team and editor
of American Fencing Magazine.
A two-time Olympian, (1964, 1976), she fenced in five World Championships (1965, '66, '69, '70, '75), as well as the Pan American Games of 1975 (Bronze Medal). She was the winner of the 1971 Terre des Hommes in Montreal. For nearly two decades, she was a nationally ranked women's foilist (1959-1976). She captained the Salle Santelli Women's Foil Team to five national titles. She was also a 3-time chair of the New Jersey Division, coach of Brooklyn College for over a decade at Brooklyn College before becoming Assistant Director of Athletics.. In 1975 and '76, she was NIWFA College Coach of the Year.. Her students have become champions and successful coaches in their own right.
Erinn
Smart became involved in fencing at the age of 11 after her parents
read in the newspaper about the Peter Westbrook Foundation, an
organization founded by a six-time U.S. Olympian to draw in minority
and underprivileged children to fencing.
Mildred Langdon Stewart, who lived in West Hempstead, New York, attended Hunter College and was trained by Georgio Santelli at Salle Santelli. She was a 2-time N.I.W.F.A. Foil champion (1936 & 1937) and made the 1940 U.S. Olympic Fencing team. Due to World War II, the Olympic Games were cancelled.
(1909-1969) - AFLA national foil champion (1928,
'31); medalist eight times. Member, U.S. Olympic team (1928, '32, '36).
Finalist, Olympic foil individual (1932) - ninth place. She was the
first American woman to attain the Olympic finals. The national
Under-19 women's foil trophy is presented in her memory.
“I learned discipline from my own life experiences. I didn’t learn it from sport.” “My fencing has benefited from that discipline. It brings me to fencing practice everyday.”
Foil Fencing 
