Fencing Phenom is Ranked No. 1 in the Country

Francesca Russo travels to Europe for the weekend on a regular basis. Hungary, Germany, and Poland are just some of the places she visits. Just a few weeks ago, she went shopping in France and was back in class a day or two later.

Russo, a sophomore at , is a world-class fencer. She travels on an almost weekly basis to Europe and throughout the United States to compete against other nationally- and internationally-ranked fencers. She has competed against Olympians, some nearly twice her age.

Russo is ranked No. 1 in the United States in two age categories for her weapon, the Saber. She is also ranked No. 18 in the world for girls 19 years old and younger. She won her second consecutive state championship this past weekend.

“People make fun of the sport because they have no idea what they are talking about,” Russo said. “It’s nothing like what they show on television or in the movies.”

Russo began fencing with her sister Jessica when she was 9 and hasn’t stopped competing since. She practices between two and two-and-a-half hours a day.

Russo and her opponents are confined to a long, but narrow strip. Movement mostly occurs vertically, not horizontally. Russo said it took her about a year before she learned how to move her feet properly.

You can’t think about how you’re going to move your feet while you’re thinking how you’re going to move your arms,” Russo said. “You need to be very agile and quick on your feet.”

An extremely precise and almost choreographed sport, fencing requires excellent hand-eye coordination.

“You almost need to have two different ways of thinking, one for your upper body and another for your lower body,” Russo said.

Lower-body movement, Russo said, almost becomes a choreographed, robotic series of movements.

“It’s mostly a defensive-oriented series of movements,” Russo said. “It’s all based on what your opponent does. You look at what they’re doing and do the opposite.”

Russo said competing the Olympics would be great, but that, for now, she is enjoying fencing and taking the sport a day at a time.

“It really depends on what college I choose to attend, really,” Russo said. “I’m thinking about it, but I’m not really sure what I’m going to be or what I want to do yet so we’ll see what happens.”