ESSEN, Germany — UC San Diego will be well represented at the upcoming Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games as 12 members of Triton fencing will be in Germany with three different national teams.

Head coach Juan Ignacio Calderon has been selected to lead the contingent of American fencers at the Games, eight of whom are Tritons. 2024-25 scholar-athletes Natalie Brooke Gebala, Ben Kim, Katherine Kim, Zara Fearns and Kyra Wu will be joined by incoming freshmen Hania Hafeez and Aditya Jain and assistant coach Diego Calderon.

Three other 2024-25 Triton scholar-athletes will also be in Germany. Arnav Raja and Ella Tang are set to represent Australia, while Pia Huber will fence with Austria.

Juan Ignacio Calderon and Raja are participating in the Games for a second time as both were in Chengdu, China, for the 2023 edition.

The International University Sports Federation (FISU) is the sponsoring organization of the Games, which begin on July 16 and close on July 27. Six cities across Germany will host around 8,500 student-athletes from over 150 countries, with competition in 18 sports.

The FISU Summer World University Games are staged every two years in a different city. This celebration of international university sports and culture draws many thousands of student-athletes together to compete, making it among the world's largest and most prestigious multi-sport events. Embracing the FISU motto of Excellence in Mind and Body, the summer edition of the FISU World University Games incorporate educational and cultural aspects, encouraging student-athletes from around the world to combine high sports performance with their intellectual pursuits.

Fencing has been a part of the competition program since the first World University Games in 1959. Over 300 student-athletes typically participate in the sport, making fencing among the most popular events at the Summer FISU Games.

QUOTABLE
"The World University games are exciting because they are a similar experience to the Olympic Games, just on a smaller scale," Juan Ignacio Calderon said. "It's big, it's exciting, it's really a boost of motivation not only for the athletes, but for me as a coach too. The Games are a very unique experience."

"This competition is really prestigious, and it is my first time in a while doing an international competition. I look forward to seeing how my fencing compares on the global level," Gebala said.

"The way I see it is that we are competing against quite literally the world's best at this event," Raja said. "Once we come back to NCAA and MPSF meets, we will have a lot more experience in dealing with pressure against quality opponents. We will be able to take what we learned and apply that down to the competitions that we are able to fence with UC San Diego."

SCHEDULE
The fencing competition will be held July 17-22 at Messe Essen Halle 5 in the city of Essen. Competition begins at 9:00 a.m. local time each day, with Germany nine hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time. The Games will be broadcast on fisu.tv.

Thursday, July 17

• Women's Epee Individual – Gebala, Hafeez, Huber
• Men's Saber Individual – Raja

Friday, July 18

• Men's Epee Individual – D. Calderon, B. Kim
• Women's Foil Individual – K. Kim, Tang, Wu

Saturday, July 19

• Men's Foil Individual – Jain
• Women's Saber Individual – Fearns

Sunday, July 20

• Women's Epee Team
• Men's Saber Team

Monday, July 21

• Men's Epee Team
• Women's Foil Team

Tuesday, July 22

• Men's Foil Team
• Women's Saber Team

About the International University Sports Federation
Since its founding in 1949, the International University Sports Federation is the key driver to expand the role and reach of university sport around the world. FISU believes that sports values and sports practice work in perfect synchronicity within one's university studies. FISU offers opportunity and inspiration to students around the world to play sport. The health, wellbeing, and experiences that students gain from sport help them become active members in our global society. In keeping with this adage, FISU organises world-class sports and educational events, all with the mission of providing university students with the opportunities to connect and exchange with students from around the world, in a collaborative and competitive environment.

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 93 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.