Welcome to a special First to 15 miniseries: The Golden Touch. The Golden Touch is a First to 15 miniseries exploring the thrilling journey of Team USA as they secured their first-ever gold medal in women’s team foil at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Join us as we speak to the athletes, their coaches, and key support staff who made history in one of the most unforgettable Olympic moments for USA Fencing. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with the three Women’s Foil training partners who played a pivotal role in Team USA’s historic gold medal run at the Paris 2024 Olympics: Zander Rhodes, Katerina Lung, and Stefani Deschner. Let's dive into their unique experiences and how they supported the team to victory.
Welcome to a special First to 15 miniseries: The Golden Touch.
The Golden Touch is a First to 15 miniseries exploring the thrilling journey of Team USA as they secured their first-ever gold medal in women’s team foil at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Join us as we speak to the athletes, their coaches, and key support staff who made history in one of the most unforgettable Olympic moments for USA Fencing.
In today’s episode, we’re speaking with the three Women’s Foil training partners who played a pivotal role in Team USA’s historic gold medal run at the Paris 2024 Olympics: Zander Rhodes, Katerina Lung, and Stefani Deschner. Let's dive into their unique experiences and how they supported the team to victory.
[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. 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.
[EPISODE]
[0:00:40] BW: Welcome to a special First to 15 podcast miniseries called, "The Golden Touch." We're doing a deep dive into the thrilling journey of Team USA as they secured their first-ever gold medal in women's team foil at the Paris Olympics. We're going to talk to the athletes, the coaches, support staff, and everybody behind-the-scenes who was instrumental in one of the most important moment in USA fencing history.
In today's episode, we have actually three guests, the three women's foil training partners, who played such an important role in getting these women ready to earn gold out there and prepare them for their historic run. So, we have Zander Rhodes, Katerina Lung, and Stefani Deschner. We're going to talk about their unique perspective on this gold medal run and how they supported the team to victory.
Hey, thanks so much for joining us. Zander, we're going to start with you. So, you were selected as one of the training partners, obviously, in the lead up to Paris. How did you get picked? How did you get on the radar of Ralf in the national coaching staff, and what was it like for you knowing that, hey, you were going to be joining the team in Paris?
[0:01:47] ZR: Yeah. I mean, I've been traveling with the team for the past two or three seasons. So, I've been kind of on the senior circuit for a little while. I've fenced a few team competitions in the past couple of seasons. I think like Ralf has done a really good job of like incorporating not only just the team, but also the other members of the team into team events and video analysis. I think, when it came time to choosing training partners, there was a lot of people that could have been chosen and a lot of people that were prepared to be there, and help. and support. But yeah, I'm really thankful for it, and it was a great experience to be there with the team.
[0:02:26] BW: Yes, it was important. You've got to have kind of the right mindset and mentality going in. Katerina, as a training partner, were you consciously mimicking the styles of other countries? Or is it more just like, "I'm going to give each of the athletes the best possible training experience"? How did you approach that, preparing them for competition?
[0:02:51] KL: I'd say, probably the most unique trait about me is that I'm a left-handed fencer. So, I think that gives the team a different approach. Also, I can experiment with different lefty styles. But I think, generally, I was trying to fence and be myself when I fenced. We did situational stuff too. So, it was like, we have five touch bouts or 15 touch bouts. Maia was only fencing team. So, we did only five touch bouts. So, I think we formatted that way –
[0:03:23] BW: And obviously, worked well because when Maia went in there, she was coming in kind of cold and dominated. So, that was really cool to see. Stefani, what was the experience like for you as a training partner and how did you approach that, I guess, you could say, responsibility?
[0:03:41] SD: Yes. I think responsibility is a great word because you want to be available, not just for training, but also to talk to all of the girls competing, make sure that they're in a healthy, good mindset, whatever that may be for them. So, joking with them, talking out any nerves before and after practice. I was ready to train, but I think, I was a little surprised by how much just being friends with all of these girls.
Like Zander had mentioned before, we've been training with them for years. So just that friendship aspect was a really important part, I think of being there and giving some normalcy to, obviously, a really big possibly once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, the Olympics is the Olympics. So, it was awesome to not only help them train, but just enjoy the experience as well.
[0:04:35] BW: Zander, what was the actual week like, let's say, and days leading up to specifically August 1st, which was the women's team day? Were you training every day with them? Were they coming by? What was kind of the schedule? What did that look like? Because everyone watched the competition online, but nobody knew all that was happening behind the scenes.
[0:04:56] ZR: Yeah. I mean, I think the team as a whole did a really good job of preparing before we got to Paris. And I think we had done a lot of the preparation, and a lot of the work in training camps prior to the HPC. Even in the training camps that were like solely for the Olympics, we had had a lot of video review sessions throughout the year. We had already had like a pretty good upward trajectory, I'd say. I think, overall, everyone was very prepared. So, we weren't really training at the HPC as much as like most people would think. We probably fenced maybe every other day and the practices were like pretty light. I'd say, leading up to it in between individual and team event, we fenced maybe one time, had one video review session. But overall, it was more just relaxing. We like to play board games a lot. So, they would come by, we'd play board games, or we just take a day trip to Paris. But it was pretty chill, and we tried to, like Stefani said, have some normalcy.
[0:05:55] BW: Yes, and keep it light. There's already enough pressure, you don't need to amplify it or ramp it up at all. Katerina, what was your experience with just the bonding and the non-fencing side of getting to be part of the team at the Olympics?
[0:06:12] KL: Yes. So, I started traveling with the senior team around last year, at the end of the season. I look to everyone on the team, and like Lee, Lauren, like they're all extremely good fencers always looked up to them since I was like eight, nine, very young. To be traveling with them, to train with them to help prepare for like what Stefani said, possibly one of the biggest events of their life. It's really awesome experience for me as well, to see them prepare, and all the nerves is well involved, and to get involved with them, and try to help them sort it out as well.
[0:06:48] BW: Yes. Stefani, Xander kind of mentioned the pre-Paris camps, and Ralf actually sent me some photos of like all the stuff that you all did. There was maybe a cooking class, and a train ride or something. What was the importance of those types of things where you get out of your fencing gear, and go out, and just experience something fun together as a women's foil team. And by that, I don't just mean the four, but the larger team.
[0:07:16] SD: I think that those activities were a very important part of the success of this team. Because I think you can get so focused on a singular goal that you forget about life as a whole. Fencing and the Olympics is obviously a very, very important part of life, but it isn't the only thing in life. I think that perspective helped us as a team not put so much pressure on this one thing. Like, this is going to be the defining moment of this squad. No, it's not. What's defining of this squad is that we enjoy spending time together, that we enjoy these outings, that we can laugh, and take off the mask, truly put it away, and be normal people, not just fencers. We're not just colleagues, we are friends.
I think, more than anything, those opportunities allowed us to gain perspective and just maintain that perspective. We were able to train hard and be intense, but nothing felt as though it was life or death. I think, sometimes, it can feel so overwhelming, you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. I think Ralf did a fantastic job of bringing levity to these situations, and reminding us that we're friends, that we can enjoy the privilege of this whole experience together.
[0:08:31] BW: Yes. I think that says a lot. Then, it's symbolic of how it actually went down on the day. We're at August 1st, and between Canada and Italy, apparently like the team had McDonald's and we're like laughing, and joking around. While Italy, like 20 feet away, was cramming for the test, basically, like watching video, and going crazy. So, to me, that just symbolizes exactly what you're talking about, that you've created this atmosphere, and the three of you have helped establish that, and solidify that atmosphere. That, hey, yes, it's the Olympics, but also, we're friends and we've got this great camaraderie that goes beyond just the four on the strip that day.
[0:09:14] SD: Exactly.
[0:09:15] BW: Zander, where were the three of you during the gold medal match on August 1st? Like I said in the intro, you'd done all you could do at this point to prepare them. So now, you just are watching like the rest of us.
[0:09:30] ZR: Yes. We were sitting like in the stands with the rest of the parents, and like everyone that came to support. So, it was really nice. I think we had a really big group of people that were like cheering for them. I know a lot of the sands were cheering against us, but we were like around each other, and our voices were echoing off of each other, which is really nice.
[0:09:51] BW: Katerina, when you're watching, did you get a sense – when are you like, "Oh, wow, they're actually going to get a gold medal?" Was it going into Lauren's anchor leg, later than that, were you seeing something even earlier, perhaps?
[0:10:05] KL: Well, when they hit the final, I was already like, they have a guaranteed medal, and it was like, 'Oh, wow, they really made it." It was like, it was still not over yet, and obviously, I was already like, "This is amazing" because people are going to get their Olympic medals for the first time. It was only after Lauren won, and Stefani and I, we were with each other and we were cheering so loud. It didn't set in until we actually like left the stand, we're like, "Oh, this is real." We trained with them, we watched them. It's like – it's an experience.
[0:10:41] BW: I love that. So, Stefani, how about you? You are really close with Lee, but also all the women on the team. What was it like seeing that gold medal moment?
[0:10:51] SD: It was really surreal. I think echoing what Zander and Katerina both said, you I think something that shocked me about the Olympics because I'd never been before was almost how normal it felt. It's like a normal World Cup, normal Grand Prix, same name, same countries. So, we're all training together, getting ready. Like we were touching on earlier, I think that our attitude going in was very relaxed. So, I think it was one of those moments where, like Katerina said, I had to bring myself, like this is the Olympics. This is actually happening.
I think seeing the four girls, the emotion that they had was contagious. I started crying both in the individual and in the team event when they medaled. When Lauren and me were fencing, I was just a mess the whole time. I was a mess as they were winning against Italy. Because again, we were just so ecstatic that they were coming home with a medal no matter what. So, then, to see them just fence so well from the get-go against Italy, I mean, the joy was just overwhelming. Then, just to see them celebrating tears flowing, Ralf's tears flowing, it was truly a special moment.
[0:12:01] BW: Zander, speaking of Ralf, after the, I guess, confetti settled, maybe not literally, but the figurative, confetti settled. He, in my opinion, did something really nice, which was, made sure to congratulate and thank the three of you and everybody who worked behind the scenes. Actually, all of the women's foil senior team sent a letter to you all. What did that mean to you to have that recognition from him and see that your contributions were being acknowledged as well.
[0:12:32] ZR: Yes, I think it was really thoughtful of him. Like the entire time we were there, Ralf made a point that we were all really important and everyone was a part of the team, and he's been doing that for the past like two years since he became national coach. I think, overall, as a whole, it's made the women's foil squad a lot closer, and I think it's like added to a lot of growth that we've had as a team, and I think it's made us a better team. So yes, I think it's really important and I'm really happy that he's doing that.
[0:13:00] BW: Yes, it was great to see, and we shared it on social media, a little excerpt from his letter. So, we'll put that in the show notes for people who didn't see it. Katerina, what does this experience do for you and your fencing? Obviously, it was about more than just the actual on the strip time, but just everything else that got to be a part of your Paris experience. How do you plan to, I guess, take that forward in the '24-'25 season and beyond?
[0:13:28] KL: So, at Paris, I was actually similar to Stefani. It felt similar to a World Cup or Grand Prix, but the preparation behind it was way beyond that. I felt the level and intensity was just so high. I feel like the performance there was just spectacular, and everyone's fencing as well. So, it really inspired me, and the joy, the happiness, the tears, the sweat, the blood, and it made me want to pursue my fencing dreams, and I'm going to try my best in the coming seasons.
[0:14:00] BW: Yes, that's awesome. Stefani, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that same question. How you plan to take this experience forward and maybe how you already have. It's been three months now. So, what's next?
[0:14:13] SD: Oh, gosh. For me, personally, I'm not sure where my fencing journey is going at the moment. Just because, as I am one of the older girls on the circuit. But regardless, I think, no matter where I go, I think seeing the camaraderie, seeing the importance of –like Zander said, Ralf made sure that we were, as training partners, thought of as just as valuable as the team. I think it's easy to, in some ways, take advantage of the people behind the scenes, which is fine. Obviously, we are not the main priority. But I think, something I want to take forward is to always create that equality. Because I think that as a whole, that allowed the joy to be so much more vast because it felt like our joy as well. It didn't feel like we were on the outside of it. It felt like we were a part of this joy as Zander and Katerina both were voicing as well.
I think that when you create an environment that is that inclusive, even in a system that has legitimate rankings, it just leads to such cohesion and teamwork. I think I really want to take that type of leadership style with me no matter what I do.
[0:15:33] BW: Yes, that's really a great point because it shouldn't be like the four and then everybody else. It's like the 12 or even more, if you expand beyond. Because as we know, there's way more than 12 amazing women's foil fencers in this country. So, just being part of that group is a huge accomplishment and sets you apart. I love that outlook. Zander, shifting gears a little bit. Let's just talk about the high-performance center because a lot of people probably don't even know what we're referring to. This is a team USA rented space where coaches and athletes train, and in some cases, live. There's food there. There's training for a ton of different sports.
When people ask you, where were you staying, how do you describe that place in north of Paris?
[0:16:22] ZR: Yes. The US team rented out like, I'd say a school, athletics facility campus where all the training partners and all the coaches from all the sports stayed. We would also have our meals there, they brought same cooks from Colorado Springs, which was really cool. We had like similar food to when we were at training camps. They also had basically any resource we could need. They had a snack place. They had a recovery station, strength, and conditioning room. So, we spent most of our days there. During the day, the team would come there to train, and it was really cool, because we were able to interact with the other sports.
Once that games actually started, we all had a place gathered together and watch the other sports from the TV. We were like cheering together as one big group, which doesn't really happen, because fencing is usually isolated from other sports. So, it was really cool to talk to other sports about fencing, and then learn about the other sports also. There were a lot of people there that are celebrities, that I would never get to see in real life. We were eating lunch with Sidney McLaughlin of Sha'Carri Richardson. It was really cool.
[0:17:32] BW: That's amazing. So, they were just there training for the day and headed to the dining hall right next to you all. That's awesome.
[0:17:39] ZR: Yes.
[0:17:40] BW: Some people said, obviously, I have no evidence of this, but some people said the food at the HPC was even better than the village. So, I'm like, all right, there you go.
[0:17:50] ZP: Yes, the girls actually started to take the bus to the HPC just to eat the food at the HPC instead of the village. They would just come for meals.
[0:17:59] BW: I love that, yes. So, that says a lot right there, having that USOPC cook. Katerina, your favorite memories from the HPC, whether it was someone that you ran into there that was unexpected, or just an experience that you had, or something that you learned?
[0:18:15] KL: I'd say, my favorite was probably running Sha'Carri Richardson. So, I really look up to her and she's like an insane runner. But I'd say, also, just hanging out with the team is – because we don't – we see each other a lot, but it's very – everything's very segmented. We don't see each other for long periods of time. I'd say like, especially with the other weapons as well, and just hanging out with each other, playing card games, or board games, and just relaxing, that was also very valuable.
[0:18:49] BW: Yes, because if you're going to a World Cup, you show up a couple of days before, and then just compete, and then leave. There's not like a -
[0:18:58] KL: Yes, there's not much socializing, and it's just like all focused on the tournament.
[0:19:04] BW: So, this gave you a nice balance and a chance to kick back a little bit, which is awesome. Stefani, what was your high-performance center experience like? Also, I'd love to hear if you have any thoughts on the value of that in general, having this custom – I don't
know if custom is the right word, but this private space for Team USA, both fencing and other sports to train away from the village. Because apparently, there were fencing strips in the village too, right? But our athletes mainly trained at HPC.
[0:19:35] SD: The way that I always tell people about my experience is that, if I had had my experience be like this my entire athletic career, I think I would have been
on a constant high. It was such a wonderful experience. We talked about the food, having food there. I think, for me, personally, I was one of the unfortunate people that got COVID while we were in Paris. So, that was very not fun. I got very sick, unfortunately. But the HPC had so many physicians, nurses, PTs, everyone who checked in with me daily, got me the viral panel that let me know I was sick, and then gave me the proper medications, helped me arrange meals. Just really looked after me, and checked in with me, even though I wasn't even competing in the games, but still showed me such care as an athlete. I just felt so valued that it was incredible.
Like Katerina and Zander said, seeing other athletes, I think creates just this whole team building to your second question, about having this separate space. I think it's so cool to commune with other athletes from Team USA to hear their experiences. For me, I ran into the alternates for the gymnastics team, and they were both so sweet, and we just talked for literally an hour about our sports, about our lives. And finding that commonality in other sports, I think, is just so cool, especially with sports that are more public-facing, like gymnastics, or like track, to find the similarities and see how these people deal with nerves, or these people deal with public perception.
I think, seeing how they deal with it, because all of their meets or events are televised. I think it gives good opportunity to ask questions of how they deal with the increased public perception that our sport luckily has come across now after the Olympics, but didn't really have too much. So, I think just that overall community that you get at that place, I think it can be – we didn't get to go to the village, but I think it can be a little bit overwhelming, and maybe even a little more competitive in the village. Whereas, just having the Team USA athletes all there, you know, I feel like, there creates this overall team environment.
I mean, the Olympics is country v. country more so. So, you kind of create a tight-knit community within the US, because you want the US to be on top of the medal counts and whatnot. So, it was a really, really positive experience.
[0:22:06] BW: That's so great. That actually kind of segues well into my last question, which is for each of you. It's, where is women's foil right now in Team USA? How do you characterize both the gold medal here and also the momentum leading up to that and all these world cups coming up to that? Where are we right now and where are we headed next as far as what has recently been our strongest weapon.
[0:22:35] ZR: I think this has inspired a lot of younger women's foils to continue fencing. I think this is the first Olympic medal for women's foil in a pretty long time. So, we haven't really seen that much success in the Olympics in a while. I think it's like really inspiring to younger women's foilist. The fact that two of the women's foilists on the team are like still very young and they're still going to continue fencing. I think is a really good sign for women's foil and I think there's so much depth in the younger generations of women's foil. Even if we look at the 12 fencers that typically go to World Cups, it's mostly like junior and cadet fencers, and a few fencers that only fen seniors.
I think, overall, having Ralf as our national coach has incorporated a lot of the junior and cadet fencers. For me, personally, growing up, I felt very included on the senior level even when I was a lot younger. I think it made me a lot better with senior fencers once I aged out of juniors. So, I think overall a good projectory.
[0:23:33] KL: Yes. I'd like to add on to what Zander said about junior fencers, and I think as a junior fencer, Ralf does a really good job of incorporating these younger fencers into camps and whatnot. Especially like the camps, the people in the camps, some of them are very young, like '09, '08. I think the Ralf including these kids really brings more inspiration to these younger fencers. Especially with the gold medal now, and what Zander said, it's really inspiring, it brings more presence to the younger generations. I'm hoping that maybe more fencers will be inspired and more people will also come to fencing, and it'll be more publicized.
[0:24:21] BW: Yes, well said.
[0:24:23] SD: Yes. To add to the praise that Zander and Katerina have given to Ralf, he really has given a great involvement of all ages, all levels, all ranks, with doing consistent video review, doing consistent camps. I think that there has been an overall increase in thought and care towards not just individual results, but team results as well. In a larger sense than not just the top four who are on the team, but even further down in the ranks, so that it feels again, like it's a whole production. I think, speaking from my, a little bit older perspective, not that much older, but a little bit. Women's foil for a while was always a strong team. But in seniors, we were always up there, but now we are the world's powerhouse in fencing. We truly are the best team in the world without Olympic gold medal, and we always knew that we could be. But to actually fulfill it, and have these younger generations. I think my generation, we really feared Italy as this unbeatable opponent almost, and we beat them, not just at the Olympics, but multiple times before.
Like you said earlier in the podcast, they were stressing about us leading into that final. So, I think that that's going to be a consistent thing we see. I think it's so good for younger generations. They just don't have that fear anymore, because it's not this big thing. We are the ones who are on top, and I think it's really cool to see that evolution in my career. I can't wait to see how that progresses going into LA when the Olympics are at home. I think that's going to be an awesome environment to really hone in on that dominant mentality.
[0:26:15] BW: Yes, it's exciting to think about the future, especially after all that happened in Paris. Like all of you said, all you have to do is look at our junior women's foil teams at junior World Cups to be like, okay, there's going to be some real competition for those four spots in LA and beyond. That's super exciting to see and how that momentum can be carried forward.
I just want to say congrats to the three of you and thanks so much for taking some time to reflect on the moment in Paris and all that you all did to bring home a goal for Team USA, the historic moment. So, thank you, congrats, and good luck in the coming months and years.
[0:27:00] SD: Thank you so much. This was awesome.
[0:27:02] KL: Thanks for having us.
[0:27:03] BW: Thanks.
[0:27:04] ZR: Yes, thank you for having us.
[END OF INTERVIEW]
[0:27:06] 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 a review. Until next time, I'm Bryan Wendell, and I hope to see you real soon out on the strip. Bye.
[END]