PHOENIX — Make it a three-peat!

The 2023 USA Fencing Summer National Championships, featuring the best fencers in America from ages 10 to 80 in all three weapons, was held in Phoenix over a 10-day span.
 
And LIU fencing coach and 2004 US Olympian Ivan Lee competed as the defending national champion in the Veteran-40 Men's Sabre event, which was open to all competitors between the ages of 40 and 49.

Lee defeated Jeffrey Kallio of North Carolina to win his third consecutive Vet-40 National Championship and his 20th U.S. national championship overall.
 
"I'm beyond blessed to still be able to fence," Lee said. "Winning is icing on the cake, but for me, just being able to compete at my age and remain healthy and enjoy the sport that I love is so amazing."
 
Lee's 20 national titles span 25 years.

He won the U-20 national championship back in 1998, while a high school student at Brooklyn Tech High School. He has nine Division I team titles, five Division I individual titles, three junior titles and three veteran titles.
 
LIU and Harvard are the only two universities in the nation with three fencing national champions on their coaching staffs.