March 18, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Opening Statements:
Notre Dame Coach: Janusz Bednarski
- It's wonderful to once again be at the NCAA Championships for fencing. I hope for good results for other teams and my own team.
Penn State Coach: Emmanuil Kaidanov
- I'm happy to welcome all of our friends and competitors to Happy Valley to compete at the NCAA Fencing Championships. I wish everybody luck and I wish everybody the highest possible success and I wish that they enjoy State College.
Columbia Coach: George Kolombatovich
- I've been to 32 NCAA Championships and I want to let people in this area know that they should be very proud of the excellent facilities that have been provided here. The fencers are very happy with the room, the lighting, and the space. Everything about this is really a first class operation and the NCAA I'm sure is very happy that Penn State has agreed to host this competition because I'm quite sure that everything will be very superb.
Penn State Coach: Emmanuil Kaidanov
- After so many years, we're brave enough to take a championship and provide our fencers the opportunity to show what they are capable of.
Questions:
Q. Coach Kaidanov, with a full body of qualifiers, in the tournament, does that add any pressure to claim a national title?
A. It is always pressure. You see the teams that compete year after year for the National Championships, and if someone tells your there's no pressure they're lying; of course it's pressure. Conditions to win are to qualify the maximum number of fencers. We've been lucky enough to win second place with the level fencers competing, but to win without having a full complement of fencers is extremely difficult. Well maybe this year Ohio State coach Nazlymov (Vladimir) will prove us otherwise.
Q. Coach Kaidanov, how did PSU get the chance to host this?
A. To be frank, to volunteer to run such a tournament is very difficult. The last time we ran the tournament here was 1991 and it was in the White Building, which was much lesser of a facility. If we are to run the tournament it's supposed to be something as good as we have now so we tried our best.
Q. Coach Kaidanov, has it been different preparing for nationals this year as the host team?
A. We'll it's almost the same. There are small differences, but those differences mainly are not because we are competing at home, but because of the composition of teams. Several of our fencers competed in international tournaments, so we have to modify preparations to make sure that in spite of competing internationally they're still capable to do their best at the NCAA Championships. I believe that Columbia and Notre Dame would have similar problems.
Q. Coach Kaidanov, talk about the rivalry between PSU and Notre Dame.
A. Well it's a traditional rivalry between our institutions, but once the bout is done and we leave the strip our kids are friends. They like each other and know each other from other years. I can give you an example: at the international tournaments George (Kolombatovich) and I shared a room.
Q. Other coaches, how has the experience been at Penn State thus far in relation to hosting the tournament in this wonderful facility?
Janusz Bednarski (Notre Dame)
A. I have been at the NCAA Championships 14 times in different places in the country. The first time I was here and this competition for my team (Notre Dame) will be very important. The reason being we are traditional rivals of the place organizing the competition. We are coming here to the cave of the lion, just to try to get the prize. It's also very important because the last time we won a National Championship gold medal was 2005; it's already four years. It's time to fight. We have a new team, young kids who are coming for experience and for a good, strong future. That's the place that's important for us and in addition such excellent facilities and a very well organized tournament. We have to turn our attention to get the best place possible in this competition even if it will be our host institution who competes so often.
George Kolombatovich (Columbia)
A. One of the things that make a Championship so difficult is the same thing that makes an Olympics so difficult or a Championship. The pressure on people to win takes their mind off being in the moment, being out there and competing. When you realize you have so many times in this format of competition where every fencers fences all the others. There are so many times you can relax for a little bit and not get that point for your team and if you're thinking about trying to win the whole tournament on the first day you're not going to be fencing as well as you can. You'll be focused not on where you want to be focused. So the outcome is really how one deals with pressure. If a fencer deals with pressure well it can help you or it can crush you and when you have level of fencing here, some of you probably do not know that there are fencers here that are Olympians, Olympic medalists, World Cup finalists, Junior World Team gold medalists, there are a lot of very experienced fencers here. Every bout you fence, whether it's against one of those great superstars or someone who is lower ranked, each one counts the same. I mean most of your focus throughout the day is going to be the team that is able to do that with most of their fencers. That is going to be your winner.
Q. Coach Kaidanov, you have 10 national championships, what would it mean to win 11?
A. It's a strange question. Who counts how many you have won? It just matters if you have won this one. Thank you.
Q. Coach Kaidanov, who are Doris Willette's main competitors?
A. There are a bunch of them. Among them is last year's champion and runner-up. We have several strong institutions, naming Emily Cross silver medalist, Oksana Dmytruk (Ohio State) who was last year's runner-up and we have several other very highly qualified athletes. So, if you think Doris is the favorite here, don't trust the conclusion. It will be a hard time for her, but we still believe in her.
Q. Coach Kaidanov, with so many freshmen, what do you look for?
A. I wish I had all 12 freshmen like Watson. This kid has been around the block once or twice. He is one of the strongest fencers in the U.S., but again he is not the only one. We have another freshman from Notre Dame Meinhardt (Gerek) who has competed at the Olympics and as a foilist has received such great success. We have other fencers the same age with the similar talent. So yes, the skills of the freshmen are high, but the competitors are also very strong.
Q. Who do you see as odds on favorites to be in the mix for the crown?
Janusz Bednarski (Notre Dame)
A. It's very hard. There was a poll posted several days ago, but the poll is telling the number which is not necessarily translated into the final medals. That's the magic of the sport. You are coming in as a favorite, especially on the collegiate level. When a team is so young and un-experienced it's hard for me to say who is a favorite. I think that all 25 fencers who qualified in each weapon to fence are all the most talented or the best in the country. I do hope there are some Notre Dame fencers maybe a lot of them.
George Kolombatovich (Columbia)
A. As far as who would be favorites here, I personally do not even like to have my fencers think along that line. The reality is that you get one point beating Doris Willette, Emily Cross, and you also get one point beating a far less experienced fencer. One of the problems that happened frequently to all of us over the years is, you have a fencer who gets up and is fencing a bout against a really tough fencer and wins that bout and then loses the very next bout because they've used so much energy and concentration, they lose a bout to a far weaker fencer. The thing that was mentioned earlier, the thing that really counts in this tournament is consistency and as far as guessing who's going to win I would just remind you of Michigan and Appalachian State in football.