As senior foilist Sabrina Cho stepped onto the strip during the 2022 NCAA Championships, she stood alone for the first time all year.
It was her first time competing on collegiate fencing’s largest stage, and her first full season on the program after missing the previous due to the pandemic. With her teammates, coach, and family alongside her, Cho shined in her bouts with a 30-15 record and placed fifth at the NCAA regional tournament. After clinching a qualifying spot and standing on the precipice of a championship, Cho was “super nervous going in,” but found comfort in her teammates who stood alongside her journey.
“It was extremely nerve wracking … to blaze at such a high level,” she said. “It was a really great honor being able to represent Penn as a whole. I definitely didn’t do as well as I had hoped.”
Since then, Cho has gone on to achieve NCAA success. At the 2025 Championships, she finished 14th in foil and contributed to the team’s eighth-place finish. She earned sixth place in the 2023 Championship.
Cho has always made lasting bonds with her teammates. Growing up in an athletic family, Cho saw sports as a way of being a part of a community. After joining a fencing club, Cho found her specialty in foil. From that moment, Cho attributes her success to the people close to her, including her family, teammates, and coaches.
“The only way to really be successful and happy, in anything you do, is having a support system,” Cho said. “[In] having these people help me, I [also] get to be a part of their lives and their experiences as well. It's definitely a trade off that I would never give up.”
Cho uses these experiences throughout her bouts. When describing her process on the day of a match, Cho focuses on herself and finds clarity from her nervousness through being around her teammates.
“Just being around my teammates, being super engaged, and just talking through our emotions really helps me get into the right mindset,” she said.
Throughout her collegiate career, Cho fenced in countless bouts both on the national and world stage and boasted a 60.9% winning percentage last year. But one memory that stood out for Cho was the 2022 Ivy League Championships. As she stood against Princeton during the championship’s final bout, she described the feeling of competing against another athlete putting their best foot forward as “serene.”
“They … embody a different type of persona that is like a fierce warrior … and then, we hold a sword in our hand, and you truly transform,” Cho explained.
Cho would go on to win the bout, and this moment became a highlight of her career.
“I’m going to have this moment with me forever,” Cho said of the match. “I’m truly grateful to be a part of the team that has supported me.”
Cho also finds herself inspired by her peers, including freshman foilist Malak Hamza and senior foilist Katina Proestakis Ortiz — both of whom were Olympians. Their experiences helped Cho find her style as a “methodical fencer,” and she ended up becoming close friends with both.
“I love them so much, and I’m so grateful to be their teammates, but also just be in their lives and be a part of their experiences,” Cho said.
Cho didn’t just find inspiration from the people she trained alongside, but also those whom she competed against. Cho said that people often misconceive athletes who have outperformed them on paper to be far above them — when, in reality, all athletes are “just trying to be a better version than who [they] were yesterday.”
As she stepped off the strip for the final time following the NCAA tournament, Cho emphasized how grateful she is for the people who bolster her, both athletically and personally.
“Our program … cultivate[s] each and every student athlete in both their academics and as fencers,” Cho said. “These accomplishments are not just mine.”
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