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En garde! More than 2,000 fencers are competing in Richmond at the national championships

Fencers compete in the 2026 Division I and Parafencing National Championships in Richmond on Sunday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. (Photos by Julianne Tripp Hillian for The Richmonder)

The national fencing championships are in Richmond, and will run through Monday with free admission for spectators at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Hosted by USA Fencing, the event features competitions in épée, foil and saber, with more than 2,000 competitors from 41 states; in some cases, results will determine who represents Team USA at the 2026 Fencing World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, this July.

Here's what it looked like on Sunday:

Aleksandra “Ola” Strzalkowski celebrates after her team, Warriors and the Goombas (from the Fencing Academy of Denver), wins the Division I women’s saber national championship.

Colin McChesney repairs a fencing sword.

Jacaeber Kastor wins the final round of the Vet 70 saber pool rounds.

Franklin T. Rean (left) evades an advance from Pietro Ferraro in the final round of Vet 40 saber pool rounds.

Abe Kaplan and Noah Hanssen face off in the final round of parafencing men’s saber.

Aleksandra “Ola” Strzalkowski (left) competes against Katherine MacKay in the final bout of the Division I women’s saber national championship.

Eliott Loiseau and Zachary Choi \(right) face off in the third round of direct elimination in junior men’s épée.

Abe Kaplan celebrates winning the finals of parafencing men’s saber.

Jacaeber Kastor (right) and Garik Gutman (left) face off in the Vet 70 saber division.

Pietro Ferraro celebrates his win in the Vet 40 saber division.

Eliott Loiseau celebrates his win in the third round of direct elimination in junior men’s épée.

Competitors face off in the direct elimination round of junior men’s épée.

Sofiia Vinogorova (left) and Noelle Zoller (right) hug their teamate Aleksandra “Ola” Strzalkowski (middle) while celebrating their win in the Division I women’s saber national championship.

Ji Su competes against Michael F. Bacon in Vet 60 saber.

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