SKARBONKIEWICZ Magda

Personal Information

Residence Portland, OR, USA

Occupation Athlete, Student

Languages English

License number 20112005000

Club

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Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? She took up the sport at age six. "I won cadet when I was 13 or 14. I won that and I was like, 'Oh, this is fun, I like winning'. When I was younger, winning was probably the biggest motivation, just succeeding."

Why this sport? Her father had been a competitive fencer and coached the sport. "I was basically born into fencing."

Club / Team Oregon Fencing Alliance: Portland, OR, USA

Name of coach Adam Skarbonkiewicz [father, club]

Training Regime She trains for two to three hours a day, four or five days a week.

Handedness Left

General Interest

Hobbies Art. (usafencing.org, 03 Apr 2020)

Most influential person in career Her father. (usafencing.org, 03 Apr 2020)

Hero / Idol US fencer Mariel Zagunis, Greek fencer Despina Georgiadou. (WPNA.FM YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2022; usafencing.org, 03 Apr 2020)

Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs "[The night before a competition] I make sure I am not doing much with anybody after dinner, I just go to my room, rest, read and pray. When everything is packed and I'm about to fall asleep, I just think of how the day will go tomorrow and how I want it to go, but also making sure I don't put too much pressure on myself. I also eat way more during tournaments." (USA Fencing Facebook page, 17 May 2022; The USA Fencing Podcast, 16 May 2022)

Sporting philosophy / motto "Just have fun, don't let other people pressure you into your goals. Make your own goals, have your own plans, and just enjoy the journey because there's going to be ups and downs, and don't change yourself for other people. Just be you and enjoy the tournaments you are going to and enjoy who you are becoming. Just have fun because at the end of the day, if you win and you didn't enjoy it, it's not worth it." (WPNA.FM YouTube channel, 10 Aug 2022)

Famous relatives Her father Adam Skarbonkiewicz was a US national champion in fencing. (usafencing.org, 03 Apr 2020; oregonfencing.org, 01 Jan 2022)

Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (The USA Fencing Podcast, 16 May 2022)

Other information FENCING STYLE
She said that her fencing style attracted attention when she first began competing in the sport. "When I came in I was self-conscious at first, people were like, 'Your style is weird', and around [age] 12 I was like, 'I don't want my style to be this weird, I want it to be normal'. But having an eccentric style that's more out of the box has gotten me to where I am today [speaking in 2024] because it's tougher to figure out." (portlandtribune.com, 14 Apr 2024)

ONLINE EDUCATION
In 2023 she switched to online education in order to focus on fencing ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. "As this Olympic year approaches, I realised that it would be incredibly difficult to balance school while missing every other week trying to qualify. I needed flexible scheduling that would help me train, travel and compete while also completing my last year of high school. Education is most important for me, and being able to achieve what I want in my education while also achieving big things in fencing lets me stress less." (jesuitportland.org, 20 Mar 2024; Instagram profile, 22 Nov 2023; usafencing.org, 05 Sep 2023)