St. John's University Athletics
Gelman, Homer, Wozniak Primed For World Fencing Championships
9/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
Oct. 7, 2011
CATANIA, Italy - Before beginning his 16th season at the helm of the St. John's fencing team, head coach Yury Gelman will help lead U.S. fencing representatives at the World Fencing Championships in Catania, Italy from Oct. 8-16. Two of the fencers joining him are St. John's senior Daryl Homer and recent graduate Dagmara Wozniak. The trio has spent the last week training for the event at the Pre-Worlds U.S. Saber Camp in Catania.
Homer, who captured his second-straight individual NCAA title this past March, will begin competition in the men's saber event on Oct. 9 at 9 a.m. Central European Summer Time. If the U.S. qualifies a men's saber team, three athletes and one alternate will be selected based on the U.S. Senior Team Point List, which will be finalized on April 16, 2012.
With 5,994 total rolling points, Homer enters the World Fencing Championships in second place for Olympic qualification - just six points behind 2008 Summer Olympics Silver Medalist Timothy Morehouse.
Wozniak, who was a four-time All-American at St. John's, will begin competition in the women's saber event on Oct. 10 at 9 a.m. CEST. In order to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Wozniak must finish in the top-12 in the world in the Adjusted Olympic Rankings, and within that, be among the top-two Americans on that list by March 31, 2012.
Because women's saber is no longer a team Olympic event, each nation can qualify a maximum of two women's saber athletes. During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Wozniak served as the alternate for the three-member U.S. women's saber squad.
Gelman will rejoin the St. John's fencing squad at the conclusion of the World Fencing Championships and will resume preparation for the 2011-12 season, which begins on Nov. 11 at the North American Cup in Austin, Texas.
In order to fully prepare for the 2012 Olympic Games, Homer will be redshirting this season for St. John's.
To coincide with the World Championships in Catania, Italy, the Federation Internationale d'Escrime - the international governing body of Olympic fencing - has launched a new promotional website. By going to FIE.org, fans can catch a live stream of the events as well as get live results.
The full schedule for the World Fencing Championships can be found below. Please note all times are in Central European Summer Time:
Oct. 8 Opening Ceremony, 6:30 p.m. CEST
QUALIFYING ROUND
Oct. 9 Men's Saber, 9 a.m. CEST
Women's Foil, 11:30 a.m. CEST
Men's Epee, 2:30 p.m. CEST
Oct. 10 Women's Saber, 9 a.m. CEST
Women's Epee, 11:30 a.m. CEST
Men's Foil, 3:30 p.m. CEST
INDIVIDUAL
Oct. 11 Women's Foil, 9 a.m. CEST
Men's Saber, 2:20 p.m. CEST
Oct. 12 Men's Epee, 9 a.m. CEST
Women's Saber, 2 p.m. CEST
Oct. 13 Women's Epee, 8:30 a.m. CEST
Men's Foil, 12:45 p.m. CEST
TEAMS
Oct. 14 Women's Foil, 9 a.m. CEST
Men's Saber, 10 a.m. CEST
Oct. 15 Men's Epee, 9 a.m. CEST
Women's Saber, 10 a.m. CEST
Oct. 16 Women's Epee, 9 a.m. CEST
Men's Foil, 10 a.m. CEST
Players Mentioned
