Syosset girls fencer Scarlett Lee to represent Team USA at championships in Brazil
Syosset's Scarlett Lee with her parents, Wayne Li and Jennifer Yu. Lee, who competes for the New York Fencing Academy in Port Washington, is a member of Team USA U17 fencing squad.
Credit: New York Fencing Academy/Michael Mokretsov
From fencing tournaments in Milwaukee to Spain and Cairo, Syosset junior Scarlett Lee has traveled all over this year as she continues her fencing career.
Now she has one more stop coming up in April, a culmination of years of practices and countless bouts that has led Lee to represent Team USA as one of three epeeists on the Cadet Under-17 national team. Lee felt numerous emotions upon hearing that she’d be heading to Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro to compete in the Cadet World Championships from April 1-9.
“I was more calm than excited, I don’t know why,” Lee said. “I know I’m supposed to be really, really happy, but I was really calm and relieved . . . It feels like nothing happened, like it’s a normal day.”
Lee, a Princeton commit who competes for Port Washington’s New York Fencing Academy, will be joined on the epee team with Regina Lee of California and Massachusetts' Natalya Cafasso. Lee does not participate with Syosset’s varsity team due to the conflicting schedule between private competition and varsity.
Lee qualified through a point system built through her strong performances at numerous events. That includes a top-8 finish among 243 epeeists at Summer Nationals in July and top-16 finishes at the Junior World Cups in December and January among 237 and 211 epeeists in Burgos, Spain, and Cairo, Egypt, respectively.
She also took gold at October’s North American Cup and January’s Junior Olympics, competing among 176 and 224 epeeists, respectively.
“We asked Scarlett to go to multiple Junior World Cups, which are [up to 20 years old],” New York Fencing Academy coach Sergey Danilov said. “Those points helped her a lot to qualify. She stuck with the process, and it’s one of the most amazing things to watch.”
Placing sixth at North American Cup on Feb. 13 among 176 epeeists provided Lee enough points to secure the final spot on the cadet national team, a result she didn’t think was possible despite encouragement from her sister and coaches.
“Three years ago, I didn’t even know about this thing,” Lee said. “With the help from my coaches, my family and friends, I was able to get here and I’m really proud of myself, too.”
Danilov, who is joined by fellow coaches in Michael and Misha Mokretsov of New York Fencing Academy, praised Lee’s dedication to improving, culminating with a spot on the national team.
“One thing I see in Scarlett is how much passion and how much she likes the process itself,” Danilov said. “She’s the one who is always coming after [practices] with questions. I don’t think she would ever give up. If you have that, you can achieve whatever goals you have in your life, not just in fencing.”
That was a sentiment echoed by Lee, who can now look back on all the miles she’s traveled and know for certain the time was well spent. It’s also what she wants to share with young fencers who dream of representing their country on the strip.
“Although being in this spot is really important, the process is what makes you stronger, mentally and physically,” Lee said. “So, trust the process.”
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
