October NAC: Day 1 Recap

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — That first gold medal at a North American Cup can generate a range of emotions. 

For Chelsea Delsoin (Notre Dame & Advance Fencing And Fitness Academy), the victor in Division I Women’s Saber at the October 2024 North American Cup in Atlantic City, the first was a scream that reverberated throughout the hall.

“It was just, ‘Yes, I finally did it,’” she says. “Because when you come super close and you finally achieve that goal? I was just super happy and super proud of myself.”

She was also proud to represent her Fighting Irish family as a member of the esteemed Notre Dame fencing team. Several of her collegiate and club teammates cheered Delsoin on throughout her career day.

“Everyone at Notre Dame — the coaches, the staff, my teammates — they're all super welcoming,” she says. “They all want everyone to do well, and I’m really thankful that I have them in my life and in my corner.”

Relief, pride — and yes, even a few tears. 

“I did cry a little bit on the strip because I'm still in shock,” Delsoin says. “I've been fencing for a while, and this is my first NAC gold medal. I know I've been putting in the work, so I'm just happy that it's finally showing in fencing now.”

Jaelyn Liu (Star Fencing Academy & Fencing Institute Of Texas) has been putting in the work, too.

With her Junior Women’s Foil gold medal today, Liu has won gold in each of her past three events — and across three different age categories. At Summer Nationals in Columbus, she earned Division I Women’s Foil gold on July 1 and Cadet Women’s Foil gold on July 2.

“It’s not that I'm thinking about winning every time,” she says. “I just try to fence my best every single time. I try to reduce all the mistakes that I’ve done during practice,and just be motivated.”

Liu says her overall style doesn’t change when transitioning from Cadet to Junior to Senior (sometimes in the same tournament). But she does notice that sometimes the bout requires her tactics to shift.

“In Cadet, usually lots of people like to counterattack, and so I can just simplify my actions,” she says. “There's a really hard shift between Division I and Cadets, and that's probably the thing that I have a hard time with the most — adapting to the tactical styles.”

Meanwhile, in the tournament’s largest event, Oleg Knysh (Alliance Fencing Academy) tried not to let the fact that there were 432 other athletes vying for Division I Men’s Epee gold affect his game.

“I didn't think about it. I said, ‘It doesn't matter for me,’” Knysh says. “I'm so happy, but I'm really tired because it was a very long day for me, but I'm so happy.”

The day ended with the Junior Men’s Saber final, where Cody Walter Ji (Nellya Fencers) continued his string of recent success with a gold medal. After a summer focused on training, he said it did take him time to ramp back up to competition mode. He lost one pool bout, which gave him a tougher path to the medal stand.

“I kind of got a little bit into my emotions,” he says, “but I went outside, reset, prayed. And for me, that gave me so much comfort, and I was able to push through today, and I'm proud of that.”

Ji also has one more secret weapon that helped him through a long day of fencing. 

“I stretch, I pray, I meditate,” he says. “And I eat a lot of M&M’s.”