In practice, the two have pushed each other to achieve more, work harder, and avoid slacking off.

“With me and her, we both work really hard, and it’s been great having someone like that on the team who also really wants to improve and compete,” Itzkowitz said.

When one of them is sitting on the bench or is inactive in general, the other will encourage the other to get up and get fencing. The two help each other take full advantage of the sport that they love so much.

And when squaring off in practice, competitive sparks tend to fly between the two.

“We definitely get intense, [and] not just us, the guys too,” Itzkowitz said. “Saber attracts big personalities. It’s a lot quicker and more dramatic and also more subjective, which can lead to some arguing in practice.”

Not only are the two fencing against each other daily, but in the largest national and international tournaments, they are squaring off with each other on the strip as well.

When they encounter each other as opponents, both put away their friendship and battle on.

For Itzkowitz, it is important for her to see Jarocki only as a competitor in those situations.

“Its definitely tough,” Itzkowitz said. “We had to fence a couple of weeks ago in the final of the Penn State Open. I think I’ve gotten quite good at pretending it’s anyone else. It’s definitely something I used to struggle with [be]cause you’re like “oh it’s my friend,” and you kind of lose the competitive drive to it.”

Jarocki’s focus is similar but perhaps more clear cut in determining friend and foe based on the situation.

“We both dissociate ourselves from our friendship,” Jarocki said. “When we are fencing, we fence, that’s our goal—to win—no matter who you are fencing against.”

Though competing against a teammate outside of practice seems strange, in fencing it’s simply part of the sport.

“It is the nature of fencing,” Itzkowitz said. “In the Olympics and Internationally, fencing is both a team sport and an individual sport, so I’ve had that before with my [Great Britain] teammates, when you are cheering them on in a team tournament [and] then you have to compete against them in an individual tourney.”

This spring, Itzkowitz and Jarocki will hope to bring home the team’s first Ivy League Championship. Led by the two sabers, the women’s fencing team will be trying to make history.