Written by Camila Reyna

As the days stretch longer and spring peeks through, fencers are participating in their final bouts for the 2024-2025 season. The team has had 12 meets, with 2 of them being against all girls-schools. The girls foil squad, consisting of Ishana Kumar ‘26, Selena Zheng ‘26, Eliana Thomas ‘26, Julie Chen ‘28, and Bianca Arencibia ‘28, has not lost in a single meet they have fenced in. Girls foil is also the number 1 squad in the entire Independent School Fencing League (ISFL). During the ISFL individual competition, four fencers from Rye Country Day School were placed. Grace Feng ‘29 won second place in girls’ foil, Kumar won third place in girls’ foil, Matthew Lee ‘26 won third place in boys’ épée, and Ray Cao ‘26 won second place in boys’ épée. 

The upcoming NYSAIS tournament is scheduled for February 22 and will take place in the Hackley School. Each squad will fence multiple schools, with each “meet” having 9 bouts. The awards have also changed this year and will be given to boys’ teams and girls’ teams in groups according to blade. Fencing squads are allowed to bring a maximum of 5 fencers, and they each must have fenced in at least 4 meets to qualify to compete in the tournament. This year, a new school will be attending, which may invite a new challenge to RCDS fencers. 

The Varsity Fencing Team celebrated Senior Day on February 19. Mats Danger ‘27, reflected on the past season. He stated, “I think what I’ll miss the most is probably just fencing with my friends”. This was a great fencing season, and hopefully, the 2025-2026 season will be just as great or even better!