13 WTHR IndianapolisFishers student excels in wheelchair fencing

Fishers student excels in wheelchair fencing

FISHERS - Most of us played pirates back in the day with some plastic sabre rattling, but the serious game of fencing requires lightning reflexes and strategy. One local fencer stands at the top of the sport. But she had to sit down first.

Inside the metal mask hides a quick-thinking fencer.

"My father's a lawyer, so I've been taught to come with things fast and think on my feet. If your opponent plays something that you weren't expecting, that way I can just change it really fast," said Cat Bouwkamp, 15.

Cat swings a sword with the best. The sophomore at Fishers High School hopes to compete next year in the Paralympics in London.

Cat can walk, but she competes in a wheelchair because of fibular hemimilia. She was born with a club foot and fixed ankle and suffers from scoliosis.

She started fencing on her feet, but her health condition made wheelchair fencing a better opportunity competitively. She's risen to the top of her sport in all three weapons.

Cat is the reigning national champion in sabre, foil and epee.

"It's pretty nice. When people talk, it was like, 'oh, I made travel soccer,' or, 'oh, I made varsity basketball.' Yeah, I'm the best fencer in the United States, so it's a really nice feeling," said Cat.

Fencing has taken her around the world, and fencing in a wheelchair has opened her world.

"It gives me an appreciation as a human being, seeing what other people have gone through and what they've overcome and how great they're doing," she said.

Indy Sabre Fencing Club Coach Val Kizik discovered Cat in a beginner's class six years ago.

"Character and smile, right from that young age. That was impressive, and her will to succeed," said Kizik.

Fencers wear a wired metallic suit that triggers an alarm when touched by the sword. Points take just a few seconds.

"You don't see anything else. You don't see other people. You don't see coaches yelling at you. You see your opponent and you see what they're gonna do. It really is ballet with swords," said Cat.

This ballerina wields a warp-speed weapon.

Indy Sabre