Summer Nationals 2024, Day 2 Recap: Ker Goes Bananas on Her Way to Division I-A Women’s Saber Gold

COLUMBUS, Ohio — By blending tenacity and support from her teammates with a few perfectly timed bananas, Grace Ker (Cardinal Fencing Club) found herself being called a national champion.

With her win in Division I-A Women’s Saber, Ker earned the first national championship of Summer Nationals — winning one of six gold medals available on Sunday, June 30, at the USA Fencing National Championships & July Challenge, also known as Summer Nationals.

Ker said her goal entering the event was to finish with a Top 8 medal, but once she earned a place in the quarterfinals, she dreamed higher. 

“I was just fencing touch by touch,” she says. “I think it's good to go in with no expectations. So that's what I did today.”

When she needed energy between rounds, Ker found an effective combo.

“I tried to eat a lot of bananas,” she says, “and then just remind myself to have fun.”

By the time her gold medal bout arrived, Ker’s teammates provided another boost of adrenaline.

“When I heard them cheering for me, I felt a little more energy,” she says.

Energy was abundant in the gold medal bout of Division I Men’s Epee, where 17-year-old Simon Lioznyansky (Alliance Fencing Academy) defeated 39-year-old Adam Rodney (Peter Westbrook Foundation & Fencers Club Inc.).

“My goal was to fence well, move well, have good preparations. The realistic goal was Top 32, which is what I got at the April NAC. I was trying to match it or maybe do better,” he says. “Honestly, at the beginning of the day you could not have told me I'd be first in Division I Men’s Epee and have me believe you.”

In the day’s loudest moment, the bout was tied at 14 when Lioznyansky thought he saw a possible opening.

“I could tell by Adam’s movement, by his en garde, that he was gonna like fleche at me off the line,” he says. “I knew something would happen off the line, and so I was ready. Otherwise, he would have ran right through me and gotten me, so it was good to be ready, andit paid off in the end.”

Meanwhile in Junior Women’s Epee, Julia Yin (Vango Toronto Fencing Center) was just 13 when she won gold in this event a year ago at Summer Nationals in Phoenix. On Sunday in Columbus, she doubled down on that statement-making victory, winning gold once again.

Yin says the strategy hasn’t changed even as she’s a year older: “I do the strategies that I have my head and just execute them.”

Yin, a Canadian, says she loves coming to USA Fencing tournaments because the experience allows her to see friends and test herself against the best.

“The level here is much higher,” she says. “So I can gain more experience and also interact with those who are at a higher level.”

For Jordan Silberzweig (Manhattan Fencing Center & Yale University), a gold medal in the Division I Men’s Saber event is a perfect way to end his 2023-24 season. He’s ready to embrace the “break” part of  summer break.

“I'm probably gonna take a little time off from fencing,” he says. “I'm going to be cheering on Team USA at the Olympics, so I'm really excited to see what they can do. But I’m going to just try to stay fit, keep exercising and hopefully I'll be back at the October NAC.”

Gold and 2024 National Champion: Grace Ker (Cardinal Fencing Club)

Silver: Jaslene Lim (PDX Fencing)

Bronze: Megumi Oishi (Northwestern University)

Bronze: Angelina Tse (Halberstadt Fencers' Club)

5th: Heartlyn Tabangay (Midwest Fencing Club)

5th: Nisha Hild (Boston Fencing Club)

7th: Trisha Nath (Bergen Fencing Club & Stamford Fencing Center)

8th: Sophia Mann (Cardinal Fencing Club & The Fencing Center)

Gold: Julia Yin (Vango Toronto Fencing Center)

Silver: Grace Hu (University of Pennsylvania)

Bronze: Jolie Korfonta (Elite Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Zhuoying Qu (Battle Born Fencing Club)

5th: Victoria Kuznetsov (University of Pennsylvania & Fencers Club Inc.)

6th: Heidi Ding (China)

7th: Yasmine Khamis (Alliance Fencing Academy)

8th: Lefu Chen (North Shore Fencers Club & Allegro Fencing Center)

Gold: Simon Lioznyansky (Alliance Fencing Academy)

Silver: Adam Rodney (Peter Westbrook Foundation & Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Ian Sanders (New York Athletic Club & Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Diego Calderon (San Diego Fencing Center)

5th: Ari Simmons (New York Athletic Club & Alliance Fencing Academy)

6th: Gabriel Feinberg (Olympia Fencing Center & The Ohio State University)

7th: Stephen Ewart Jr. (New York Athletic Club & University of Notre Dame)

8th: Ivan Zagoruiko (North Shore Fencers Club)

Gold: Jordan Silberzweig (Manhattan Fencing Center & Yale University)

Silver: William Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center & Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Cody Walter Ji (Nellya Fencers)

Bronze: Roger Wu (University of California San Diego)

5th: Neil Lilov (Lilov Fencing Academy)

6th: Robert Wang (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)

7th: Emilio Gonzalez (Scarsdale Fencing Center & Fencers Club Inc.)

8th: Edward Maklin (Dynamo Fencing Center Inc.)

Gold: GSFA (Sabrina Cho, Chin-Yi Kong, Shuang Li, Yukari Takamizawa)

Silver: Renaissance Fencing Club (Anna Kollár, Jazmin Papp, Adeline Senic, Borbála Simon)

Bronze: Maximum 1 (Skylar Knight, Ceana Oh, Kristina Petrova, Audrey Yang)

Gold: Albert Bagdány (Hungary)
Silver: Conrad Lo (Massialas Foundation)
Bronze: Liam Bas (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)
Bronze: Richard Li (Star Fencing Academy)
5th: Yonjae Kim (Top Fencing Club)
6th: Andrew Chen (Bluegrass Fencers' Club)
7th: Riccardo Sisinni (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)
8th: Elijah Onik (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

Find all the great Day 2 photos on Facebook.