Before competitions, sophomore Vera Fung, a national-level fencer, tries to gain weight to have energy for her matches. Over the years, she has seen how this process has contributed to having issues with her body image and dysmorphia.
“Usually I will gain a lot of weight and then afterward, it will lead into a spiraling pattern of continuously skipping meals,” Fung said. “[This leads me to] drop a lot of weight and then gain it all back, which ends up being really demoralizing because of the health problems that follow.”
For a period of time, skipping meals led her to faint frequently during practice and experience dizzy spells, which took a large toll on her health for future competitions.
Fencing has also impacted Fung’s body in some other ways she is uneasy with. She recalls that she was uncomfortable wearing shorts during the previous school year because her fencing stance caused her left quad to be larger than her right.
“Because of fencing, I’m a bit more muscular than I’d like to be,” Fung said. “Some parts of my body are more toned and bulkier than other parts and I feel I can’t wear clothes as freely as I like to.”
Recently, Fung said she has found improvement in weight stability, getting a good balance of carbohydrates and protein. Though this lifestyle is challenging to keep up with at times, she has found success in staying loyal to a schedule of eating at least two meals a day.
Another struggle Fung faces in her sport is pressure from peers and family. When facing her opponent on the strip, worries about her parents enter her consciousness.
“My mom has always been supportive, but sometimes [during competitions] she gets really frustrated,” Fung said. “Because this is a very expensive sport that takes up so much of her time, I feel a lot of parental pressure to perform well.”
Additionally, she has found that friendships within the sport are often based on the success of the members. This peer pressure elevates the stress that comes with her performance.
She said it has been hard to maintain friendships but is thankful that she has finally found a good set of friends to lean on, making competing a bit easier to deal with compared to previous years.
Fung has been fencing for five years and has enjoyed significant success. In July, she traveled to Minnesota to compete in Nationals, participating in the year 14, cadet, juniors, Division 2 and 3 categories. Her most notable achievement was placing fifth in the D2 category out of 123 fencers.
Throughout her experiences, she has grown into a mentally tougher athlete, one more able to better block out the parental and peer pressure of feeling the need to be perfect during competitions.
Fung is happy that her body image issues and health have improved and, even more, her love for the sport has grown as she looks forward to fencing through college.
