Our Wildest Fencing Season Yet — End of Season Recap

The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts.Ari beat Olympic and world champion Masaru Yamada at the MedellínFencing World Cup, Stephen and the New York Athletic Club won the Senior National Team Championship, and somehow we still squeezed in three weddings, a sponsor visit, a full-reset hike in the mountains above Medellín, and a tarmac wait that almost cost us a flight to Switzerland.This is the end of the 2025–2026 fencing season — every win, every loss,and what it taught us heading into LA 2028.CHAPTERS00:00 Cold open00:22 Catching up after a wild stretch of fencing02:43 Senior Nationals: Nathaniel Wimmer makes history03:36 Stephen + NYAC win the Division I team championship04:32 Ari's mental lapse!07:12 Ari's 9th place finish — and the full-body cramps08:13 Touchdown in Medellín, Colombia11:24 The Easy Path Crew is born (USA teammates drawn against each other)16:16 Day off: a mountain excursion above Medellín with no cell service21:42 Day 2 in Medellín — Ari's career-best run begins23:14 Drawing Masaru Yamada — Olympic medalist, world champion silver27:53 The fall heard around the venue29:33 Sudden death: beating a world champion32:14 Congrad Kongstad brings reality back34:30 Between Colombia and Bern: weddings, work, and prep37:58 Ari ranked 5th — a sudden Bern qualification42:00 Four hours on the tarmac43:23 Bern Day 1: Easy Path Crew, take two50:53 Processing a loss the same way you'd process a win52:34 Stephen finds the "Jake Jets"56:17 Working a full-time job from a Swiss hotel until 11 PM58:34 Day 2: rematching Akira Komata1:03:36 Team event: the Kazakhstan comeback1:11:00 Shout-outs: Alexandre Pittet & Anton "Soup" Piskovatskov1:18:30 LA 2028 is officially real1:22:24 Thank-yous and sign-offTheme song written and performed by Colin Campbell🔗 CONNECT WITH COLIN📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/campbelltunes/?hl=enThank you for listening!🔗 Check out FencR🌐: https://www.fencr.app/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app🔗 Connect with Us🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination🔗 Prieur USA🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/