In the realm of high school athletics, one student-athlete has distinguished himself as an emerging prodigy. Jan Biesiada, ’24, is accomplished in the sport of fencing and has high hopes for the future.
Biesiada has fenced for seven years total with five of them being competitive. Competitive fencing involves three levels of tournaments: local, regional and national. Biesiada has participated at each level all over the country in cities such as Cleveland, Chicago and Phoenix.
“I get to see new places that if I hadn’t been competing I probably would not have gone to,” Biesiada said. “This summer I went to Phoenix for about a week and a half where I don’t think I would be going if I had not been competing.”
Biesiada has been a Fencing Club member for the past four years. The club meets twice a week and is open to fencers of all skill levels, experienced and inexperienced.
“Sometimes we will take the younger members aside and help them learn blade work and how to block and hit,” James Overton, ’25, said. “It gets kind of repetitive, but it really does help.”
Incorporation is a sentiment that has stood the test of time in Fencing Club. Former member Freya Kindel, alum, reflects on her time as a club member.
“As a rookie at fencing, I felt the environment was welcoming,” Kindel said. “In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed the tantalizing experiences that my brief time on the fencing team supplied me with.”
Fostering a sense of camaraderie within the fencing club starts at the top. Biesiada’s father is the instructor of the club and encouraged fencing to his son.
“My dad found out that at the local CRC, they were having fencing classes every Monday, and my dad took fencing in high school, so he wanted to see if he saw or remembered anything,” Biesiada said. “He was like ‘I can bring you along once or twice, see if you like it’, and well the rest is history.”
Even outside of the club, Biesiada’s father mentors him as a fencer. A coach-son dynamic can be difficult, but in Biesiada’s case, the relationship is strictly business.
“During a club meeting, I am just a student. Outside of fencing, I am just his son,” Biesiada said. “Even at home when we are doing a fencing lesson, I am a student and there is no leniency.”
Like many athletes, fencers look up to the professionals as role models. A fencer’s role model can be influenced by their style and school of fencing. For Biesiada, his role model is the United States Olympian, Nick Itkin.
“Though he’s a lot taller than me, he’s from the same school of fencing, which was the Russian school of fencing,” Biesiada said.“[It] is a very precise, very defensive school, but also very aggressive. I was mostly taught in that school of fencing and I would see him as the highest form of that school, so I look up to him.”
Professional athletes exemplify the pinnacle of their sport and can serve as inspiration for young athletes. Biesiada is no exception, and uses these athletes to motivate himself for the future.
“At summer nationals, a group of Olympians came and formed a line where you could have your equipment signed by all five Olympians,” Biesiada said. “I still have it [hanging] up in my room as a small motivator for me.”