Columbia Lions fencing


The Columbia Lions fencing team is the intercollegiate fencing team for Columbia University located in Manhattan, New York City. The team competes in the Ivy League within Division I of the NCAA. The university first fielded a team in 1898, under the leadership of coach James Murray. The team is currently coached by Michael Aufrichtig.
The Blue Gym is home to the Columbia Lion fencing team, located within the Dodge Physical Fitness Center on campus.
WWW gocolumbialions.com

History

The team was founded in 1898, and has had some noteworthy successes. It has captured the NCAA national title 16 times, most recently in 2019. It also won Intercollegiate Fencing Association national championships in 1898, 1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, and 1934. The team has also won 52 Ivy League Championships, capturing both the Men's and Women's titles outright in 2019.
Fencing for the team, Norman C. Armitage won the Intercollegiate Fencing Association saber championship in 1928, Emily Jacobson won the NCAA women's saber championship in 2005, and Daria Schneider won the NCAA women's saber championship in 2007.
The team has produced a number of Olympians, including five in 2012. Columbia grad Alen Hadzic was named as an alternate to the 2021 Olympic team, but was suspended by the United States Center for SafeSport due to findings of an investigation following allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct; an arbitrator later reduced his sanction, allowing him to go to Tokyo, though he did not fence. Hadzic had previously been suspended by Columbia University for a year for sexual misconduct, while he was a member of the Columbia team, as a result of the findings of a Title IX investigation. In June 2023, Hadzic was banned from fencing in the US for life by SafeSport, due to his sexual misconduct.

Notable former fencers