Foellmer Wins Gold at Vet Worlds!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Potomac Fencer Wins Gold in Veteran Fencing World Championships
November 15, 2025
Washington, D.C. – Kristin Foellmer of Potomac, Md., today clinched the title of World Champion in the Vet 50 Women’s Epee category at the Veteran Fencing World Championships in Manama, Bahrain. “Vet Worlds” is held November 12-20 and brings together the world’s best veteran fencers – age 40 and above – to compete in epee, sabre, and foil in both individual and team events. Foellmer trains with Head Coach Janusz Smolenski at DC Fencers Club in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Seeded 11th out of pools, Foellmer, took definitive wins against fencers from Finland and Italy, then knocked out higher seeded fencers from Great Britain, Germany, and France to get to the finals strip. There, she quickly defeated #1 seed, former Olympian (2000 Sydney), and fellow left-hander Natalya Goncharova of Kazhakstan, scoring 10-4 in less than three minutes in the first period.
“This win is for my son, who wants to be a racecar driver. I want him to go for his dreams, and you have to lean in,” Foellmer said. “This win represents years of training and competition.”
Foellmer, 50, is a first time member of the U.S. Vet World Team. As a new Vet 50 fencer, she took gold and silver at national Vet 50 Women’s Epee events in the 2024-25 season, punching her ticket to Worlds in Bahrain. Before her Vet career, she was a member of the U.S. Team, representing the United States at World Championships and on the World Cup circuit. Born in Germany and raised in Guilford, Conn., she is a four-time high school state champion, three-time NCAA All-American, and inducted in the Brandeis Athletics Hall of Fame.
Foellmer joins fellow DC Fencers Club mate Valerie Asher 64, of Bethesda, Md. at the 2025 Vet Worlds. Asher is the 2025 Vet 60 Women’s Epee U.S. National Champion, a 12-time member of the Vet World Team, and chair of USA Fencing’s Veteran’s committee. Asher placed 14 in the Vet 60 Women’s Epee category today.
Over a 27-year period, DC Fencers Club (DCFC) has sent fencers to each and every Vet Worlds since they were first competed in 1998. DCFC has trained five Veteran World Champions, including:
- Kaz Campe (Vet 60 Men’s Individual Epee, 1998 – the first-ever individual world championship title for a U.S fencer)
- Lisa Dobloug (Vet 60 Women’s Individual Epee, 2005)
- Valerie Asher (Veteran Team Women’s Epee, 2022)
- Joe Deucher (Veteran Team Men’s Epee, 2023)
- Kristin Foellmer (Vet 50 Women’s Individual Epee, 2025)
Veteran fencing (for ages 40+ to 70+) is a growing category that offers mature athletes an opportunity for serious competition in a sport that rewards mental acuity as much as physical agility. Since 2017, the US Fencing Association has also hosted Vet 80 exhibition events.
About fencing
Modern sport fencing consists of competition in three weapons: foil, epee, and sabre. In epee, the entire body is the target. Fencing competitions in all three weapons usually consist of two rounds of bouting. In the first round of “pools,” 6 to 8 fencers compete in a round-robin of 5-touch/3 minute bouts. Pool results inform the seeding of the next round, Direct Elimination (aka “DEs”). These elimination bouts are 10 touch/6 minute bouts in the veteran category. Winners of DE rounds advance to the table of 64, 32, 16, semifinals, and finals.
About DC Fencers Club
For more than 30 years, DC Fencers Club (DCFC) in Silver Spring, Md. has consistently produced national and international champions. We polish the skills of fencers who strive to compete at the highest level, and we encourage fencers of all ages and ability levels. For more information on classes, camps, and lessons, visit us at www.dcfencing.com or follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
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USA Fencing Vet Worlds website – https://www.usafencing.org/2025-vet-worlds