Saturday, June 23, 2007
Injury keeps fencer from sport she loves

By Noah Buntain
Correspondent

At 5 feet tall, Carolyn Travis doesn't seem like an intimidating person. Put a foil or a saber in in her hand, though, and the 17-year-old Hayden Lake native terrorizes even men who have more than a foot on her.

Travis competes in the Olympic sport of fencing, a sport she picked up 3 1/2 years ago after seeing "Pirates of the Caribbean" and signing up for classes with a friend. Though the curly-haired high school junior enjoys other sports - softball, basketball and running - fencing has captivated her.

"I loved it immediately," Travis said. "It's a very physical game. You get such an adrenaline rush every time you're out there. It's also a mental game. It's like chess in that you set up your moves."

She fences at Coeur d'Escrime, a club in Coeur d'Alene, where she attends practices three times a week.

"She has a natural aptitude for it," said fencing coach Jessica Brower. "I think she has a lot of characteristics that you see in fencers: analytical ability, perfectionism. She's physically very fast, and she has very good footwork."

While she lives in Hayden Lake, Travis attends The Oaks, a private classical school in Spokane. With her daily commute, her interests in photography, drawing and reading, piano lessons and hours of homework every night, Travis doesn't have a lot of free time. But she's always ready for fencing.

"One of the greatest things about her is that enthusiasm," Brower said. "She smiles. Her eyes sparkle. She lights up! It's great to have a student who has that much passion in what she does."

Christie Travis, Carolyn's mom, noticed the attraction to the sport right away, but she said Travis' dedication isn't surprising.

"Carolyn is different than most people I've experienced," Christie said. "The things she thinks about, dreams about, she puts into action."

Travis said she hopes to fence in college, possibly earning a scholarship to compete for a school like Northwestern, Penn State, the Air Force Academy or New York University. In order to attract recruiters, Travis qualified in foil and saber for the Junior Olympics, a 20-and-under tournament that features some of the best fencers in the country - of any age - that's held every February.

However, while at a warm-up tournament in Seattle in January, Travis injured her knee during a foil bout. She took a step back to avoid an attack and when she came forward again, she collapsed.

"I was really confused. I thought someone had kicked me from behind or something," Travis said. "It was the worst pain I've ever experienced."

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