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Date: 2/9/2022
LONGMEADOW – Fencing may not be the first sport that comes to mind when one thinks of a high school athlete, but for Sean Quinlan, his love of fencing is taking him to the Junior Olympics Championships.
Quinlan began fencing in the fifth grade when a visiting friend showed Quinlan his fencing equipment. Now a sophomore at Longmeadow High School, Quinlan has been training and competing ever since.
Fencing is a sport in which two opponents use sport-specific swords, epees, foils and sabers, in both offense and defense, with the goal of landing hits on one another. Quinlan specializes in using the epee blade, made for thrusting rather than slashing.
Quinlan’s father, John Quinlan, related a joke from the fencing community. He said, “Fencing is the perfect sport during COVID-19. Everyone wears a mask and if someone gets closer than 6 feet, you stab them.” Joking aside, fencing can be practiced individually, which does make it a safer sport in the age of COVID-19. It’s also one of the things the high schooler loves about the sport.
“I can rely on myself,” Quinlan told Reminder Publishing. The solo nature of the sport also allows him to structure his practice in a way that works around his school and home life. “Because it’s an individual sport it’s not as tough to balance,” he said. “I don’t have to be at practice at a specific time with a team.”
Instead, Quinlan trains three times a week at the Pioneer Valley Fencing Academy (PVFA) in Easthampton, as well as practicing on his own. Quinlan cited his coach at PVFA, Paul Sise, for helping him become a better fencer. According to the PVFA website, he is one of only four certified fencing masters in New England.
There are five ranks in the fencing world, from E at the low end to A, the most skilled. Quinlan is currently ranked C. Quinlan’s father told Reminder Publishing that his son competed against Iliya Mechov, a 1996 Olympian and six-time National Champion, at the Thanksgiving tournament in Boston in 2021. Quinlan managed to land six touches against the experienced athlete.
Quinlan qualified for the Junior Olympic Championships by taking the bronze medal in the qualifying competition for the under-20 age group in the New England Region. That competition, in Boston, had Quinlan facing 21 others, including high school juniors and seniors, as well as college athletes.
The Junior Olympic Championships are hosted by USA Fencing, the national governing body for fencing in the United States. This year, the competition will be in Salt Lake City, Utah from Feb. 18 to 21
Quinlan said there will be college scouts looking for talent at the championships. He said he would “love to” continue fencing at the college level, but that is not why he plays the sport. Quinlan said he doesn’t plan to become an Olympian, either. “The Olympics would be constant training,” Quinlan said and was candid that he does not believe he can perform at that level.
“That’s not why I do it, anyway,” Quinlan said. “I just love fencing.”