Columbia College Today

Emily Jacobson '08, former Olympic fencer

Emily Jacobson ’08, a former Olympic fencer and now captain of Columbia’s team, has enjoyed the respite from international competition to “relax and do normal things,” though she still practices five days a week and competes on most weekends during the season. She is shown here on February 6 at NYU.

Photo: Gene Boyars/Columbia University Athletics

For Emily Jacobson ’08, Athens, Greece, always will be a noteworthy place, and not just because of its prominent role in the Core Curriculum.

Plato’s birthplace also was the site of the 2004 Olympic Games, which were the first to include women’s sabre fencing as an individual event. Jacobson and her older sister, Sada, were members of the pioneer U.S. team that competed in Athens, where Jacobson placed 12th overall.

“It was a crazy experience,” says Jacobson, who recalls watching television next to American tennis star Andy Roddick in the Olympic village. “It was a good feeling to know everyone was watching.”

In sabre fencing, the target area involves everything above the waist, including the head, and it is possible to score with the edge of the blade. Jacobson, who hails from Atlanta, was introduced to the sport at 11 by her father, David, who fenced as a Yale student and was a member of the 1974 U.S. men’s sabre team. The sport has since become a family affair for the Jacobsons. Jacobson’s younger sister, Jackie ’11, also is a world-class fencer and a member of Columbia’s team.

Amiable and approachable, Jacobson says that she took up fencing as a means to compel her parents to buy her contact lenses. “After the first day, I realized I could not possibly do this sport with glasses,” she recalls with a laugh. Although she quit fencing two days after receiving her coveted contacts, Jacobson returned to the fencing strip shortly after and has enjoyed much success.

One of the highlights of Jacobson’s career came at the 2004 Junior World Championships, where she won individual and team gold medals. The competition was held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, one of many European cities Jacobson has visited during a fencing career that also has taken her to exotic locales such as Thailand and Cuba. “I want to go back to most of the places where I’ve been,” she says. “Most of the time when we were traveling, we were in the gym.”

Ultimately, Jacobson’s passion for fencing also led her to Morningside Heights, where she has been a member of Columbia’s women’s fencing team since her first year. “When I was applying to college, I decided that if I was going to continue fencing I had to do it at a place where I could continue at the same level. I chose Columbia because it’s in New York City and there’s a really good private club where our team practices,” she says, referring to the New York Fencers Club in Chelsea.

Winning the 2005 NCAA women’s sabre championship in Houston, Jacobson says, was a defining moment in her college career. “I kept getting through the rounds and all of a sudden I won,” she recalls. “Winning that really made me love our team. I realized that our team as a whole had so much potential.”

Jacobson, a psychology major, was right in her assessment. In 2007, Columbia’s women’s fencing team was undefeated during the regular season and placed third in the NCAAs. Daria Schneider ’09 won the sabre championship that season, giving Columbia two crowns in three years.

Jacobson’s teammates recently showed their appreciation for her commitment to Columbia’s fencing efforts by electing her team captain. Head Coach and Director of Fencing George Kolombatovich, who has known Jacobson since before she entered high school, was not surprised. “[Emily] is extremely respected. She has been helping the team so much by training with them, working with them, being a role model and giving advice.

“She’s become quite a leader. I was most pleased when the team recognized her and her contribution,” says Kolombatovich, who also is president of the Referee’s Commission for the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime, which oversees international fencing.

These days, Jacobson’s fencing efforts revolve solely around Columbia’s team. After much deliberation, she decided not to try out for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, which she says would have required her to take a two-year hiatus from Columbia in order to train six days a week.

“It was a hard decision, but I really wanted to stay in school. After freshman and sophomore years, I had close friends. I wanted to graduate with my class on time. That was important for me,” she says, adding, “I’m looking forward to being more involved with the team as captain.”

During the fencing season, which lasts from January through March, Jacobson practices five days a week for about two hours and competes on most weekends. Now that she is no longer competing internationally, she is enjoying a luxury that she had little access to before. “This year I’ve had a lot more time to hang out with my friends and go to movies. I’ve really enjoyed the extra free time to relax and do normal things,” she says.

Although Jacobson is considering attending law school, she has not decided what path she will take after graduation. But she knows that one way or another, fencing will never be a thing of the past. “I love fencing. It’s such a huge part of my life,” she says. “I will always be involved in the sport and keep up with what the national team is doing.”

Nathalie Alonso ’08, from Sunnyside, Queens, is an American studies major, a freelance writer and an avid New York Yankees fan.

AROUND THE QUADS

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