We're joined by Margherita Guzzi Vincenti — a World Cup gold medalist, a dedicated coach at Notre Dame, and now an Olympic qualifier for Paris 2024. Margherita embodies the spirit of fencing in every bout, and we’re excited to chat about her journey, her challenges, and the dreams she's turning into reality.
In this episode, we're joined by Margherita Guzzi Vincenti — a World Cup gold medalist, a dedicated coach at Notre Dame, and now an Olympic qualifier for Paris 2024.
[INTRO]
[0:00:01] BW: Hello, and welcome to First to 15, the official podcast of USA Fencing. I'm your host, Bryan Wendell, and in this show, you're going to hear from some of the most inspiring, interesting, and insanely talented people in the sport we all love. First to 15 is for anyone in the fencing community and even for those just checking out fencing to see what it's all about. So, whether you're an Olympian or a Paralympian, a newcomer, a seasoned veteran, a fencing parent, a fan, or anyone else in this wonderful community, this podcast is for you. With that, let's get to today's episode. Enjoy.
[INTERVIEW]
[0:00:40] BW: Today’s guest is Margherita Guzzi Vincenti, a World Cup gold medalist, coach at Notre Dame, and now an Olympic qualifier for Paris 2024. Margherita really embodies the spirit of fencing in every single bout, so we're excited to chat about her journey, and the challenges she's faced along the way, and the dreams she's turning into a reality. So, welcome Margherita.
[0:00:58] MGV: Thank you so much for having me here. I'm so, so excited.
[0:01:01] BW: Yes. This is great. We're here at the April NAC, so it's great to talk with you in person, which we can't always do on these. I'm fascinated by your origin story. You were born in Milan and you've been representing Italy at the international level, before moving to the United States, to fence for Penn State, and eventually becoming an American citizen. So, can you tell us how you first got started in fencing? Because it wasn't at a club in the US like a lot of our fencers. It was in Milan.
[0:01:26] MGV: Absolutely. So, here's my story. As a young kid, I tried a lot of different sports and was very, very active and very competitive. I remember during a dinner, one night with my dad and my mom, we were talking about different sports and tried to figure out what kind of sports would click with me. My dad mentioned, “Why don't you try fencing? We have this very talented fencer in our family. He's your great, great uncle. He won three gold medals back in the days in the Olympic Games and in a silver medal. You might like it. Just take a stab at it.” No pun intended.
Sure enough, I remember, this was during a weekend at dinner night. Remember, on Monday, I was so excited, I was like, “Let's go. Let's try to find out a club close to our house.” Since we live in the center city of Milan, there was a club near the Duomo, which was very close walking distance about 15, 20 minutes walking distance. Next thing I remember, I just walk into the club and I just fell in love with atmosphere, with the peers there, with the coaches. Sure enough, I'm still here fencing after so, so many years.
[0:02:24] BW: You've got like fencing in your blood then, because I didn't realize that about you. I knew you had fenced in Italy, but I didn't know you have like an Olympic champion in your family.
[0:02:33] MGV: Yes. I mean, not many people can say that. But it's a very cool thing to have. So, to be able to then be the next generation on now the Olympic strip is something very special for our family.
[0:02:44] BW: When you think back on that club, and now you fence at Ataba in Wisconsin, and you've visited several other US clubs, how are Italian fencing clubs different from US fencing clubs, the ones we find in this country?
[0:02:57] MGV: I guess, what the major difference is like probably the way they're built. They're ancient, most of them. They have the history. The place where I grew up was Società del Giardino Milano in Milan. That club dates back to hundreds a year. So, a lot of clubs here in the United States are very new, although nowadays, we want that modern feel, right? Every time I'm back in Milan, and I see my friends and I go fence there, it's very strange to walk into this old buildings, and then very antique doors, and everything seems very fragile. But that's the feeling, right? I honestly like how, here in the US, we're so modern and we're so just ahead of everybody in terms of everything that we have. The tools and I think a lot of the European countries are still missing that.
[0:03:41] BW: Interesting. So, how did that early training in Italy shaped the fencing style that you still employ today out there on the strip?
[0:03:51] MGV: I feel that I have a very international style because I received – my first training was from Italian, right? So, it was an Italian style. Then, I grew up into, moving to in the United States, and then I had a Russian coach there. So, I got also a little bit of Russian style. Nowadays, I have an Egyptian coach who has had Egyptian, French, as well as Russian style. Now, it's a very international style. It's a good blend of different techniques, which I think makes me unique and different on the strip.
[0:04:18] BW: Which that can be an edge out there, right?
[0:04:19] MGV: Absolutely. Absolutely.
[0:04:21] BW: So, 2010 NCAA championships at Penn State. You were a freshman, it’s your first year.
[0:04:27] MGV: My first semester too.
[0:04:28] BW: First semester. Yes. I didn't realize that. So, what do you remember about that experience and going out and getting the championship as someone who – those who were following fencing knew, but you certainly were new to the NCAA scene?
[0:04:42] MGV: For sure. I mean, it was an experience that was beyond my imagination, for sure. It was a lot happening that semester. As I said, it was my first semester. So, moving to America, moving to a new country. We're not scared of the move. I was just intrigued, very, very eager to actually move here, the only thing that was, probably worried me, was the language barrier. Potentially, a language barrier because English was my second language. I learned it in school. So, I was never really born with that. To be thrown into a brand-new environment was a lot of new challenges, a lot of new things to discover.
All I put to my mind was, okay, do your best to fence the best that you can, and then see what happens. And sure enough, in just a span of three months, I got enough points to qualify for regionals. I did really well at regionals and therefore, I qualify for NCAA. Next thing I knew, I was just standing on the highest podium step and then winning NCAA. Back in the days, I mean, nowadays too, of course, the competition is still very high. We had Olympians or people that would have become Olympians. So, the field was not easy at all. The key with NCAA was just taking every match at a time, not getting overwhelmed, because it's such a vast field of fencers that you have to really take everything in chunks, right? Whatever happens in one match, you just have to forget and move on to the next match. Good or bad. You cannot let your emotions really dictate how you're going to do in the next match. That way, you have to stay focused on the present.
[0:06:09] BW: By that point, you had already had success at the junior level internationally. So, what was different about the NCAA? Was it a different feel that it somehow feel like the stakes were even higher, because you had your Penn State teammates to worry about?
[0:06:24] MGV: When I explain to people about collegiate fencing, it’s something that you will never experience unless you are in college during these four years. It's really something that you will see when you are there on that field. So, the game is always the same, right? It's a five-touch bout, then, of course, if you get to the top, you get to fence for your championships, and it's 15-touch bout. But every five-touch about, at that point is not only for you, but if it's for your entire team, right? You're not only trying to win for yourself and putting your name on the board, but you're really trying to gather those points for your school. So. the reward is much bigger. The crowd behind you is so huge and it becomes from the individual sport that it is, fencing, all of a sudden it becomes a team sport, which is something unique and that's where you really experience at the collegiate level.
[0:07:12] BW: Okay, can you tell us about the decision to fence for the US and become a US citizen in 2019, out of that process happen?
[0:07:18] MGV: Sure. So, let's actually go back to when I was offered a possibility to come to the United States. I was fencing for Italy, I was under junior national team, and then the Penn State fencing head coach approached me and saw my fencing skills and talents, and he was also very appreciative of my behavior on and off the strip. He offered me a full ride to come to the United States. My condition was I will come, of course, because I'm interested in fencing, and I also want to have a really good major. I want to major in pre-medicine. I want to be in the medical field on the road. So, if these two conditions are met, I’m in. Sure enough, I then packed my bags and then off I was to the United States.
[0:07:57] BW: You're in central Pennsylvania all of a sudden.
[0:08:00] MGV: Exactly. In Happy Valley. So, it was a night shift from being a city person from Milan to, in kind of, they say, the middle of nowhere.
[0:08:09] BW: Yes, Centre County, right? There you go.
[0:08:10] MGV: Although, I found that people here in America are so friendly, so nice. So, it was very easy to build a network, an extended family of friends, and people that really cared about me and really looked after me. Because being an only child, my parents were, of course in Milan, and the only family connection I had was my great uncle in Boston, which of course, I got to see him very often. But again, it was still a little far away from Pennsylvania and from Penn State.
But anyhow, I was then able to fence NCAA. I did really good results and I was very happy with my career. At the end of my Penn State years, I decided to apply for a green card, and what's called an extraordinary ability. So, I was granted actually, the green card.
[0:08:55] BW: An extraordinary ability. I think that's accurate, right?
[0:08:57] MGV: Yes. It's actually pretty good, I would say.
[0:08:59] BW: I love that.
[0:09:00] MGV: Yes. It's actually one of the categories that they have if you are a researcher, if you are a sports person, if you're a musician, somebody that brings something different, something good to the United States. They’re always looking for talents to take to our country here. The more the merrier, as they say.
So, I got that, and then I knew that it was just a waiting game at that point, because it's a very long process. It takes five years, actually from the time you get your green card to become a citizen. So, I just had to wait it out. In the meantime, even having a green card, I could not compete internationally because you need to have a passport, a US passport if you want to compete for United States, or same for any other country.
[0:09:40] BW: So, you couldn't compete for any country at that point?
[0:09:42] MGV: Correct. I was in a transition period from having to not compete for Italy, because you have to wait when you transfer from one country to the other, and not being able to compete for the United States yet, just because my paperwork wouldn't allow me to. So, I just had to wait it out. Then, finally, in 2019 I got my I turn up and then I was granted finally my citizenship. It was very, very neat how everything worked out because the Immigration Service Office knew that I wanted to be able to compete for United States as soon as possible. So, the office in Milwaukee where I actually ended up going to do my interview and my naturalization process, as soon as they received the paperwork in hand from their main office, they decided to actually call me up and they actually had a private interview, and then a private ceremony just for me, because they wanted me to just be an American citizen as soon as possible, as soon as they had the paperwork.
[0:10:34] BW: You'd waited long enough at that point.
[0:10:34] MGV: Exactly. They say, “No, we're going to make you a citizen as soon as we get it.”
[0:10:39] BW: So, that moment, you get your American passport. At that point, are you thinking about Olympics? Are you thinking about making the world team? What's going through your head?
[0:10:50] MGV: At that point, I'm thinking, I'm so thrilled to be back on the international scene, because I've seen it. I've done it before and I felt it before and I love performing on those strips, and seeing all these international fencers. I just couldn't wait to just be able to be back into that field and just show how much I've learned since the last time I was there, how much I improved. For me, it was just a feeling of let's get back and then just do the best I can and perform, and see how far I can go.
[0:11:17] BW: Yes. Probably eager to find out, like, how much have I grown, right? Test yourself at that level, which you really couldn't have done. Obviously, it worked out well. So, we have to talk about Paris. You qualified for the Olympics. Can you share like what that moment means to you? Also, when you first found out, was it your coach, or boss who told you? How did you find out that you had made the team?
[0:11:37] MGV: Making an Olympic team is an unbelievable moment, especially if it's your first time. This is the first time for many of us this year actually making the team and so going altogether to Paris. So, we are going to be sharing the same experience, the same feelings, and it's good that we have this big group to do it with. We knew what the points were and how they were allocated. Going into the last few tournaments, we knew what we needed to do, to be able to basically lock our position. It didn't come as a surprise. It was just a result of a lot of effort and a lot of just days in and out worth of training and competitions and good results. So, we just knew, all of us knew that that moment was coming. It wasn't just, “Oh, I discovered first or my coach discovered first.” We all knew what was going to happen. So, we were just ready for that.
[0:12:29] BW: Anybody can go in and do the math and figure it out. The way our qualification system works, it’s completely merit-based. You could say, it's all about your performance on the strip.
[0:12:36] MGV: That's one of the things that I love so much about this country. So, you work hard, and then you get rewarded for your hard work. You have merit, and then you get the prize. In several other countries, especially in Europe, that's not the case. Maybe they'll keep this system for one or two players and then the remaining players will be chosen by the coach. This can play good or bad depending on what the politics look like. So, we can get into a totally different conversation there. But I'm really, really happy that we have this meritocratic system here and I wouldn't change it for anything.
[0:13:07] BW: Yes. That's awesome. When do you think it's going to sink in? Or maybe has it already, that you're an Olympian?
[0:13:14] MGV: Every day that I wake up, I just think that I'm able to do what I love to do, and it's not just because I'm going to the Olympics, but because I'm able to train every day for something that I've always dreamed about, and because I'm able to just enjoy the sport that so many of us love, and not everybody has the same opportunity to do that. The fact that I'm just an able body and I'm just able to create excellent memories, it's just something that I'm so thankful for.
[0:13:37] BW: Yes. One of those memories was November 2023 at Legnano. Am I saying that right?
[0:13:41] MGV: Legnano. Close enough.
[0:13:45] BW: I figured I was asking the right person. So, you're in Italy, which is perfect and you win a gold medal there. What was that moment like for you in your career?
[0:13:52] MGV: That was unbelievable. So, first of all, Legnano is about maybe 15, 20 minutes from Milan. So, it was really next to my home city. I had so many friends and family members that just came over there to just watch me perform. I will never forget this moment when it was the top four and the top four finalists were introducing – they were presented from the public. So, there was no more Italian left. The crowd was full of Italians. So, when they were going through every single player and presenting such and such, such and such, when they came to my name, the whole crowd exploded in, and they were so supportive. They were feeling like, “Well, she might be representing America, but she still have Italian blood. So, we are going to be cheering on her and we're going to be very loud.” I remember my opponents looking at me like, “What's going on here?” I just said, “Well, I guess I have a few friends here.”
[0:14:40] BW: Oh, my gosh. They're like, “Wait, did you bring in your crowd or something?” I love that.
[0:14:45] MGV: Yes. Actually, people that I didn't even know were cheering on me just because they heard about me and then they just were so passionate about everything that day. So, it's definitely a memory that will never go away.
[0:14:56] BW: When you win the quarterfinals and know that you're in the semifinals. You got it. medal, but then to go on and actually get gold there. What was that moment like? Now, you're on that stage with a home crowd in a sense behind you. What was it like when you went out and just won the entire thing?
[0:15:11] MGV: It's always as I say, you just get to look at one match at a time, and one touch at a time. So, to me, it was being very present in the moment and it didn't matter what round it was. I just wanted to do well. I just knew that if I kept fencing the way I was fencing today, I would go far. So, it didn't matter what round it was. For me, it was more like, “Okay, it's another match, and I'm going to perform the best I can, and then everything will check out at the end.” In fact, it did.
[0:15:38] BW: Yes. That worked out. That was one of the highs. Can we talk about any lows? Any challenges that you've faced, that you've been able to overcome to get to where you are? I always think it's interesting to ask that question, because it's not always just winning every single tournament, right?
[0:15:54] MGV: For sure. For sure. It's actually, what I like to say is that you can learn more from the feeds them from victory sometimes. So, throughout my career, I've had many defeats, competitions that don't go the way you want to. You lose way too early in the day, and then your expectations are not met for whatever reason. I think that being able to just go back to work and get up from those low moments is where you really build your character. That's when you become a stronger athlete and that's where you really make your mind better for the next time.
So, fencing, they call it the physical chess, everybody knows. And so, so much is really dependent on your mind and in your mindset, and how you can control your feelings. It's important to be physically really good and technically awesome. But at the end of the day, especially in épée, it boils down to who has the toughest mind out there? Who can really withstand all the pressure that you have to go through every single tournament?
I've learned over the years of my fencing international, domestic, abroad, nationally, that you really have to take those moments and learn from them. Every single defeat will actually give you an extra inch to go further the next time. Because once, you I said before, once you're able to stand up when you fell, that's where you build character. So, for me, I actually take those sets back, as actually small pushes forward for my fencing journey.
[0:17:20] BW: I love that. I think that's a great outlook. Actually, that's great advice too, for younger fencers, which brings me to something else I'd like to ask you about, which is, what is your advice for young fencers starting out? If someone were to come up to you at the club and say, “How do I be like you someday?” Do you have some little soundbite that you'd like to give them?
[0:17:38] MGV: Absolutely. First of all, you need to love the sport and you need to have fun with it. When you wake up in the morning, you got to look forward to something to do. That can be your job, that can be a sport that you play, that can be loving a family member. But you need to love it. You need to feel that it's not a burden to achieve certain goals. By just enjoying every single bit of it, you will find yourself improving every time.
Also, I would highly, highly suggest because in a club, you have all different levels and all different skills. Try to pair up with somebody that has a little more experience than you are. Try to use that person as a mentor. That person, hopefully, will be able to guide you through the ups and downs that fencing brings. Because as we said before, it's very easy to just look at a champion or look at somebody going to the Olympics and say, “Well, everything is going so well for that person. That person has it easy, achieved everything. But I can't.” Well, no. We were all in the same shoes. We all started as beginners. We all were decent at it. Then, something clicked with us, maybe because it was a good word from a person, maybe something that our coach did for us, maybe something that our family or our network did for us. So, by being able to find the right people around you, I think that can help you really achieve the next levels, whatever they are.
[0:18:52] BW: For you that's, Abbas Fadel, your coach. What's special about him, and how does that connection work so well. Because I've seen how you do interact and it's obviously, you both are getting something out of that professional relationship.
[0:19:06] MGV: Sure. I've known Abbas for over a decade now and he's just not only a great teacher, a great coach, but also a great mentor and friend. So, I'm able to really share so many things with Abbas, on and off the strips. I think this is what makes our relationship so unique. I think that finding somebody that really truly understands what your needs are, and how to develop you 360 degrees around is something that can really get you further.
So, one thing that I've really admired about Abbas is that he's always able to find positivity in every situation. I see this in and out every day in the club with new fencers trying to really break through the sport of fencing and sometimes getting frustrated because they can't. He's always there being positive and just shedding the right light on them. That, I think, is a unique feature that you got to find in somebody that – when you find that feature, that can really take you further
[0:19:59] BW: Yes, obviously, it’s worked out. So, your schedule, I'd love to know like what a typical week looks like for you between training. I also know that you are volunteer assistant coach at Notre Dame. So, that factors in as well and you can train there and in Wisconsin. Is there a typical week, let's say, one where you're not off to a World Cup or a Grand Prix? What does that look like?
[0:20:22] MGV: Sure. So, a typical week will be five to six days a week worth of fencing and a day that you have absolutely to rest, because rest is just as important as really working your body really hard.
[0:20:34] BW: You don't pick up the blade at all on those days, in other words?
[0:20:37] MGV: No. You really have to just decompress, to just recharge and get yourself almost like hungry for the next practice. Because sometimes if you go, go, go, go, go, your body will just cannot – will not be able to handle it. So, a typical weekday will look like where I have maybe a very quick workout in the morning very early. I go to the gym and I do maybe some cardio or I'll do some swimming. Then, I will just change up and then go to work. I do medical research. I will be busy for several hours with that, and then back into the gym I go, and then do maybe another short workout, and then almost like a warm-up than to be ready to go back to the fencing club, where I will do a lesson for 40 minutes to an hour. Then, I will have sparring for the rest of the afternoon. Certain days, we will do specific drills where maybe we have situations or we have specific actions that we need to perform, and other days will be more open where it's just fives or fifteens. It's a mix of both.
This is pretty much what I do every day, although I also add a lot of mental training. I do a lot of visualization. I do sit down with myself and I really think about my goals and I really think about how can I improve my mind? How can I make it tougher? How can I make it smoother for whatever gets thrown at me, right? Because mind is just important as your body to train. So, that really comes into the whole preparation. Then, I will also add at least two to three times a week video review of my opponents, especially now that we're getting close to the games, and we know what the field is going to look like of the participants there. I sit down with Abbas and then we look at videos and then we analyze players. Then, we go through strategies and approaches. We look for patterns and different things and we record all our thinking. We make almost like a playbook. So, we can always look back at it and then kind of reference it.
[0:22:32] BW: Is this like a Google Doc? Or is it like –
[0:22:34] MGV: Yes. Google Doc and then Excel.
[0:22:35] BW: So, you've got like a matrix of your observations. That way you can quickly go to, okay, I'm fencing against this person –
[0:22:42] MGV: You can jump to and then you can just see all the notes and everything. Yes, that's pretty much it. When we're not in season too heavily, we're not traveling too much, I also spend time at Notre Dame. And when I'm at Notre Dame, because it's three and a half hours away, my schedule is slightly different. So, when I do the work there, I have to do my work remotely, so I don't have to be the hospital. But then, when I'm there, I mostly spar with the fencers, with the college students.
[0:23:07] BW: Lots of strong people to fence against there.
[0:23:09] MGV: For sure. A lot of international players, which is one of the great things about it. I do my own exercising and in my own physical work. So, my schedule gets adjusted a little bit there. But that's pretty much it. Then of course, when you get closer to tournaments, you have to taper down, right? So, I prefer to slow down a little bit. Then, a day or two before the tournament, I actually do very little, maybe I just take a lesson. But I don't do anything extra physical because I really want to wake up the morning of a tournament and have that feeling of hunger of wanting to really compete because I missed it for the last two or three days.
[0:23:40] BW: Can we talk about the visualization a little bit more? Because I think that's an underrated part of an elite athlete’s game. So, what does that actually look like? Help us visualize the visualization. Are you sitting on the couch, eyes closed, just thinking about your upcoming opponent? Are you reliving highlights from previous matches? What does that actually look like?
[0:23:58] MGV: Sure. Location doesn't really matter. As a matter of fact, I like to do it in different places, right? So, it doesn't have to be tied specifically to a couch or a chair. The more I can do it in different areas, the better I can just find myself pulling those emotions out of my brain. It's a mix of really looking back at what happened the past and good and bad moments, right? The good moments to say, “Well, that was the feeling that you felt there. Those were the actions that were working well for certain opponents or for that day in that competition.” But also, just as important to look at the struggles that maybe I was having in certain competitions. So, it's good to also relive those moments so that if I ever get into those feelings, I know that, “Okay, that's a red flag. Let's try to switch it around and change it to a different perspective. Change those feelings so that I don't find myself stuck in those moments.
Also, it’s important to look at the future, to try to envision, “Okay. This is our target. This is our goal. How do I want to fence that day in a specific competition?” So, you just think about the environment. You think about all the little details. I think at the end of the day, like you said, it's very underrated, but it helps quite a lot.
[0:25:10] BW: Yes. Clearly, it's part of it. You mentioned, you've talked before about community and how does the community at Ataba? How did they support you and your dreams because, like you are their superstar, right? So, you've got this whole community that when you're in Paris, they’re going to be cheering you on. Really, beyond that, I can't think of any other fencers from Wisconsin right now who are at the level of you that you're fencing at. You've got like Wisconsin behind you, too. What does that feel like to have that community behind your back?
[0:25:40] MGV: Absolutely. It feels more like a family more than a community. That's how close they are and that's how precious and special they are to me. So, every single person in the club, of course, looks up to me. But I also look up to them. To me, the fact that I qualify for the Olympics, I always like to say, actually, we qualified for the Olympics. Because it's not just my effort. It’s everybody’s effort. Everybody that was there for me at practice, fencing for me, giving me the extra nice word, telling me, “We'll be watching you. We’ll be supporting you.” Sending me messages of encouragement. They all made a part of our qualification.
To me, it’s more than just an individual qualification. It's really a family qualification. Everybody there is a true family. That's one of the main points of our club. Being a family club. We have people actually driving from Chicago every day to come practice with us. They have many other options, many other clubs, but they choose to come to Ataba because they know what it brings to them. So, another great thing that I love about the Midwest is how everybody's so kind. So, it extends to more out of like the whole region, the whole country. I feel that a lot of people really follow my journey throughout the years and they never give up, really cheering me on. They said, “Now that we finally know that you're qualified, we've actually bought tickets, and then we're coming for you.”
Actually, I have quite the crowd coming to Paris from the club, as well as from outside, just coming to see me, just because they were so excited. They're part of this extended family and it's like I said, it's so special.
[0:27:11] BW: Yes, that's awesome. Because you aren't just representing Team USA, you're representing that club family as well. I love that. So, when you were describing your day, I'm like, “Oh, that's more to do in a day than there are hours in a day.” But I've also read that you like to scuba dive. You are thankfully spending some time away from fencing as well to keep – to maintain a well-rounded life, which is awesome. Are there any parallels there at all? Or is this truly just an escape for you and like a time when you just go and not focus on fencing at all, when you're underwater?
[0:27:42] MGV: Sure. I've always been passionate about the sea in the water, and discovering a world that is not really accessible to us on a day-to-day basis, just because we live on land. When COVID hit, I really became more serious about scuba diving, and I knew I wanted to learn more. So, I started to pursue a higher degree in scuba diving. Last summer, actually, I became a dive master, which is the professional entry-level of scuba diving. Then, next would be instructor and so forth and so on. The reason why I did that is because I find that when I'm underwater, I'm there with my thoughts, and I'm there just admiring the beauty that surrounds me. Nothing else really bothers me and disrupts me.
[0:28:24] BW: Yes. You couldn't hear it if there were any distractions. Right?
[0:28:28] MGV: Correct. I mean, here, you can be bombarded by people approaching you, talking to you, asking you questions. But over there, you're just alone with your thoughts. One thing that I've really taken from scuba diving is that the more relaxed you are, of course, the longer you can stay underwater because you're going to breathe slowly, and then you're going to consume less air. So, that relaxation is something that I've learned there, and then I can actually take into my fencing and know that, “Okay, if I can get my body into a relaxed state, I can actually perform better.” There's a lot that I've learned from scuba diving. It's not only something that I really truly enjoy, but I take it as a part of a, almost a training for fencing too, in a sense that it really helps my body just totally decompress.
[0:29:10] BW: I never thought about that, because there is a finite air supply there before you have to resurface. The more relaxed you are, the longer you can stay down. I never thought of it like that. Last question, like looking ahead to the Olympics, what's something that you want to accomplish, or achieve, or experience there while you're in Paris?
[0:29:28] MGV: I think as everybody wants to do, is they want to have the whole Olympic experience. Thankfully, this is not a COVID year. I was in Tokyo as a sparring partner. So, I've seen kind of what the Olympics look like, although from far away because –
[0:29:42] BW: Everything was so closed down.
[0:29:43] MGV: Everything was really locked down and nothing really was happening and we can stay there for the whole time. So, I really want to experience everything there and I want to experience meeting high performance and elite athletes. I want to ask them what they do in their sports and how they train and what got them there. I just want to learn about stories. I want to connect with people. I think it's getting to know people and getting to know their stories, can really enrich your path as an athlete, and you can learn from also other different sports. Of course, we're there because we really want to achieve a medal, as a team, and as an individual. Those are our goals. We work really hard to get there. I think we have good potential to do something very, very nice.
[0:30:26] BW: Yes. We'll be cheering you on from here there. Your entire USA fencing family. So, Margherita, thank you so much for joining us.
[0:30:32] MGV: Thank you.
[0:30:32] BW: Good luck then and we'll be watching every step of the way.
[0:30:36] MGV: Thank you so much.
[END OF INTERVIEW]
[0:30:38] BW: Thanks for listening to First to 15, the official podcast of USA Fencing. We'll be back with our next conversation in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can stay up to date on all the latest fencing news by following us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you liked this podcast, please help us grow and reach more people by leaving us a rating or review. Until next time, I'm Bryan Wendell, and I hope to see you real soon out on the Strip. Bye.
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