Alexander Ripa joined the Harvard fencing staff as a coachingassistant on Aug. 3, 2009. In this capactiy, Ripa works withthe Crimson men’s and women’s foil squads.
In his first season with the Crimson fencers, three foilistsachieved All-America honorable mention status. At the 2010 NCAAChampionships, Shelby MacLeod earned an 11th place finish whileArtemisha Goldfeder and Tommasso di Robilant each garnered a 12thplace finish.
In 2011-12, two men's foil fencers: Lucas Lin (eighth) and BrianKaneshige (12th) earned All-America honors as the NCAAChampionships. In addition, Alexandra Kiefer (11th) also receivedAll-America accolades in the foil.
During the 2012-13 campaign, Harvard finished sixth at the NCAAChampionships, while seven fencers earned All-America accolades.Peregrine Badger finished third and Michael Raynis was 11th in theepee, while Brian Kaneshige (seventh) and Michael Woo (eighth)represented Harvard in the foil. In the women's foil, AlexandraKifer finished sixth, while Nina van Loon was 11th in the epee andAliya Itzkowitz placed 12th in the sabre.
Harvard also claimed the Ivy League title in 2013, its secondcrown in three seasons (2011).
Ripa has coached numerous elite fencers who have competedinternationally and nationally and he has guided a number ofchampions and medalists at the Cadet World Championships, NationalChampionships, Junior Olympic Championships and the CadetDesignated World Cup. He has also instructed current Harvardfencers James Harwot and Anna Podolsky, former Harvard fencer KaiItameri-Kinter '09 and members of the United States Nationalteam.
As the owner and head coach of the Rhode Island Fencing Academyand Club in Warren, R.I., which he founded in 1994, Ripa hastrained and supervised coaches, organized and implemented eliteathlete training, taught group classes and private lessons andrecruited and managed athletes.
Ripa holds a Moniteur certificate in the foil, epee and sabre fromthe United States Fencing Association/Academie d’ArmesInternationale. He also has earned a level 1 sabre and epee andlevel 3 foil certificates from the United States FencingAssociation Coaches College. He is a level 6 United States FencingAssociation rated foil and level 8 rated epee and sabre referee.Ripa is a member of the USFA Youth Development and USFASchools/Clubs Committees and holds a Coaching PrinciplesCertificate from the American Sport Education Program.
Ripa graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1995.
