MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, USA, June 28-July 7, 2025 — The 2025 USA Fencing Summer Nationals – officially the USA Fencing National Championships & July Challenge – lived up to its reputation as the world’s largest fencing tournament. Over 10 days of competition at downtown Milwaukee’s Baird Center, more than 6,000 fencers from 49 countries crossed blades in 90 events ranging from youth categories to veterans.
The massive tournament drew a record 12,410 total event entries, including 295 team entries, and saw an astounding 45,551 individual bouts and 2,655 team bouts contested on the strips. It was a true festival of fencing — free for spectators — showcasing the sport’s global reach and electric atmosphere as sabres clanged and supporters cheered.
This year’s Summer Nationals solidified its status as the largest fencing competition on the planet. The numbers tell the story: 4,372 foil, 4,385 epee, and 3,653 sabre participants — 7,121 male and 5,289 female athletes — all converged to chase national titles and personal bests.
“We have athletes from all different age groups, from as young as 7-year-olds competing to 80-year-olds continuing to fence,” says USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews.
Indeed, the tournament’s youngest entrants were barely in primary school, while 27 competitors were aged 80+, showing that fencing truly is a lifetime sport. For example, Frank Hewitt, who has been fencing for 62 years, proved age is just a number by still taking home a national title in his 80s.
As veteran fencer Sharone Huey, 69, put it: “I have a friend who started when she was in her sixties, and she’s still competing. It’s never too late to start fencing.”
Beyond the sheer scale, fencers spoke of a unique camaraderie at Summer Nationals. Many athletes, reunifying from clubs coast-to-coast and abroad, described the event as a giant family reunion of the fencing world.
Among the many inspiring storylines in Milwaukee was a family achievement that delighted the crowd: Mark Nixon earned a silver medal in Veteran-60 Men’s Epee, securing his place on Team USA for the upcoming Veteran Fencing World Championships — less than three months after his daughter, Kasia Nixon, qualified for the Senior World Championships in women’s epee.
The proud father’s accomplishment, coming so soon after his daughter’s, exemplified the multi-generational love of fencing and the passing of the torch from one generation to the next. It’s a rare father-daughter dual triumph that underscores how fencing binds families and generations together.
Finally, while champions stood atop podiums, hundreds of coaches, armourers, referees, officials, and parents worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make an event of this magnitude possible. Their contributions — from training athletes to keeping equipment primed and bouts running smoothly — earned widespread appreciation. They may not earn medals, but their dedication is the backbone of Summer Nationals.
Source: USA Fencing