UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Twins Sebastiano Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) and Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) were looking forward to competing in the 2020 NCAA Fencing Championships prior to their cancellation just like the rest of their teammates.
But unlike many of their teammates, the Bicegos had much farther to travel when Penn State decided to switch to remote learning and send its students home in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.
"When we got back to Italy, everyone was already in quarantine and nobody could go out," said Lodovica. "When we arrived, the city was completely silent. It was crazy."
"Vincenza was a ghost town," said Sebastiano. "The police were outside looking for people who left their houses without permission to do so from the city."
The Bicegos went from seeing their teammates, practicing, and going to class every day to three months of strict isolation at home in Italy.
"We couldn't see our friends at home until June," said Sebastiano.
"We went home and we literally stayed at home," said Lodovica.
As Italy began to recover from its spike in coronavirus cases during the summer, things in the United States were changing as well.
"We were very worried that we weren't going to be able to come back to school," said Lodovica. "We didn't know that we were coming back to school until the beginning of August which was really stressful."
"At one point we were worried that if all of our classes were moved online, we wouldn't be allowed to come back to the United States," said Sebastiano. "It was stressful because it's our senior year. We worked a lot with our advisors to find at least one class that was in person so that we were able to come back."
Despite the circumstances, the Bicegos still kept themselves busy and had a good summer at home.
Lodovica took four online classes and spent a month with family in Sardinia while Sebastiano worked in Milan.
"It was not a terrible summer," said Sebastiano. "It was just strange having to be so careful about everything you did and everywhere you went."
While the Bicegos did keep themselves busy with other activities, they weren't able to fence at all until they came back to Penn State in August.
"In the beginning of quarantine, it was kind of nice to have a break from practice and to relax," said Lodovica. "But then after a few weeks, I wanted to fence again. I missed the adrenaline and the exercise a lot."
"I hope that we have a season," said Sebastiano. "The goal for everyone on the team is to win a championship and a ring. Hopefully things get better next semester and the NCAA figures out a way for us to safely compete."
Right now, the Bicegos and their teammates are focused on keeping each other motivated before their potential season begins in January 2021.
"We have to practice with masks on which for me, is really hard," said Lodovica. "We're just trying to keep each other motivated and have good practices. The coaches are optimistic that we'll have a season so we're still practicing and working hard."
