Article January 1, 2003 Issue

Caught off-guard by her love for fencing

Junior Olympian Amy Lester never imagined that one day she'd be a competitive fencer.

by Jenny Sawyer

When most people I think of fencing, they probably think knights, armor, and a medieval setting. But follow Amy Lester to a fencing bout (competition), and you'll see fencing runways, electronic equipment, and high-tech fencing gear made from Kevlar — the same stuff that's used in bulletproof vests.

“Many people think that fencing means swinging your blade around a lot,” says Amy, a high-school senior from Walpole, Massachusetts. “But there's more strategy involved than that.”

The US Fencing Association would agree. “Through fencing you can acquire the reflexes of a boxer, the legs of a high-jumper, and the concentration of a tournament chess player,” the Association claims.

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