Nick Harvey is a champion in the making for Columbia's fencing team

At the core of Nick Harvey's philosophical approach to the sport of fencing is something he learned from his father: “My dad emphasized the importance of being at tournaments to fence for myself, not to impress college coaches or to make my coaches proud.

- By TYRESE ALLEYNE-DAVIS Special to the AmNews

Columbia University saber fencer Nick Harvey at the 2024 Columbia University invitational against Johns Hopkins University.

(Nick Harvey photo)

That allowed me to perform my best and know that I was fencing because I truly loved it. ”A senior and captain of the Columbia University fencing team, Harvey has been competing nationally in sabre since he was 15. Sabre is reactive, like rock-paper-scissors, with fencers only able to score from the waist up. At 15, he entered the top 20 for the 17U division.

Harvey's development was shaped in part by the Nellya Fencers Club, his fencing club in Atlanta, Georgia, which he described as a great training environment with teammates his age always trying to be better. One of them, Colby Harley, even joined him at Columbia, so they are still pushing each other.