Sister act, fencing style

Katherine and Louisa May Zouein share a love of Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, as well as shirts, shoes, and a bedroom in their family's home in Leawood, Kansas. But at Saturday's New England Collegiate Fencing Championships, sharing wasn't an option.

Sophomore "Kat" Zouein is just one year older than her sister, freshman Louisa May Zouein. Both attend Tufts, are sabrists on the fencing team, and live in South Hall.

Kat, the defending New England sabre champion and a 14th-place finisher at last year's NCAA nationals, knew that her younger sister would be one of the toughest athletes standing between her and a repeat victory. Louisa May knew that any attempt at claiming the sabre title would mean personally ousting her older sister from atop the figurative medal podium.

"Knowing we might fence each other was kind of hanging over our heads the whole day," Kat said. "Louisa May and I are pretty even, so I really don't like to fence her in competition because it usually makes one of us upset."

Saturday, it was the elder Zouein who came out on top, as Kat defeated Louisa May, 5-1. According to Kat, the score did not accurately reflect her sister's talent or how evenly matched the two are.

"I was surprised at our bout," Kat said. "It's hard for her, since I'm her older sister she really doesn't like to fence me, so that definitely comes into play when we do."

Louisa May said that the sisters' closeness makes fencing one another especially difficult.

"Being my sister, I always feel very powerless when I fence her," Louisa May said. "We know each other too well. It's not fun to fence her, it's more emotional."

On Saturday, Kat fenced to an undefeated 8-0 mark in the sabre pool, claiming her second consecutive New England sabre crown. Louisa May, with her most difficult bout out of the way, rebounded to win all but one of her next seven, landing in third overall.

"I give Louisa May a lot of credit," coach Jason Sachs said. "She was able to throw the emotion off and take care of business. It's pretty incredible given that she lost to her sister and still got third."

According to Sachs, he sometimes calls Louisa May "Mighty Mouse," for her intensity and grit on the fencing strip.

"She's small but she's just strong, she's tough," Sachs said. "[Mighty Mouse] is this little tiny thing and he's pushing the whole house up in the air. That's Louisa."

Just two weekends ago, Louisa May placed 38th at Junior Olympics in Cleveland, Ohio, where she faced a pool of 109 elite sabrists. While this was Louisa May's third trip to the Junior Olympics, it was her first national competition since attending Tufts -- a less competitive environment compared to her high school. Despite not being in the best fencing condition of her life, both Louisa May and Sachs suggested that her attitude and psyche going into the Junior Olympics were superior this time around.

"A lot of the pressures of practicing so much were off, so no one expected me to be outstanding," Louisa May said. "It made it really fun, and considering the type of practice that I do here compared to what I was doing before, I think it went really well. I just enjoyed fencing and had a really good time with it."

For Sachs, the best part of the trip to Cleveland was watching Louisa May have fun.

"Louisa's very, very talented and a lot of people tell her that, so I think sometimes she can't enjoy herself when she's competing because she's afraid of letting down those expectations," Sachs said. "I think the more she does tournaments like JO's, the higher her results are going to go, but only after she gives herself the room to say, 'Okay, I need to give myself competitive experience,' instead of saying, 'Oh, I have to do well.' If she gives herself that room to evolve, she's going to be a pretty incredible fencer."

According to both her older sister and her coach, Louisa May already has a work ethic that sets her apart from most.

"Louisa May has incredible motivation and dedication to the sport. She works harder than I do, actually," Kat said.

"Louisa May's a work horse," Sachs echoed. "She has a lot of desire and really wants to win."

According to Sachs, who often refers to fencing as "physical chess," Louisa May mostly needs to work on the mental aspect of her sport.

"If you fence someone who's as fast and as strong as you, then the mind and strategy have to take over," Sachs said. "I'd say Louisa May is ahead of the game, but she's still only about half way there, whereas Kat is more like 80 percent."

Sachs described Kat Zouein as a mature fencer who makes it look easy. He added that the type of serenity Kat displays on the strip would be key for Louisa May.

"When Kat gets up on that strip it's pretty amazing. She just gets it," Sachs said. "She has an explosive lunge and she matches the speed of her opponent and she's just serene. Louisa May still tries to force her agenda on her opponent."

While each sister's strengths and weaknesses vary, both agree that their early fencing experiences gave them a solid foundation that is the root of their collegiate successes. The pair began fencing just over four years ago, under former Ukranian Olympic coach Oleg Tretyak at the Fencing Athletic Club of Kansas City. Kat admits that it was Louisa May who started fencing first, though the elder Zouein followed suit just a month or two later. That same year, Louisa May decided to chop off her long hair-- another idea that Kat picked up on.

"I guess when one of us gets an interesting idea, the other tries it out too," Kat said. "With fencing, we started and we really loved it. It was very exciting for us."

Kat said that her being here definitely influenced Louisa May's decision to attend Tufts.

"We're really close. My whole family's really close-knit," Kat said. "It's nice to have her here because we spend a lot of time together, but with fencing, I don't know what I would have done without her. Having Louisa May here has really been a blessing."

Judging by the way Sachs talks about his star fencers, the athletic abilities and quirky personalities of Kat and Louisa May Zouein have been a blessing to the Tufts fencing program as well.

"They're a pretty special pair of women," Sachs said. "And they could really be something special nationally."