Pleasant View—Tatijana Stewart has had a lot of success with her fencing career so far. She was the # 1 ranked fencer in the Y-14 Women’s Epee and recently won the 2014 USA Fencing National Championships that was held in Columbus, Ohio June 22-July 3. But this wasn’t an easy tournament for Tatijana to compete in. On June 28, Tatijana’s father, John Stewart, passed away unexpectedly while he was in Ohio with Tatijana and her mother. To have to continue to compete in a tournament after something like that happens would be difficult for any person, but Tatijana did it and won in the Y-14 Women's Epee. While talking to Tatijana about the tournament, she said that her dad always wanted her to do her best no matter what. “I competed for my dad,” she said. “He always supported me no matter what.”
Tatijana also talked about how much her dad helped her out with her fencing career. At her first national fencing tournament in 2011 that was held in Georgia, Tatijana mentioned how she had broken 2 blades and her dad was able to fix them. “He had to figure out why they [the blades] weren’t working properly and then fix them,” she said. Her father’s work paid off as Tatijana went on to win the tournament for her age group in Epee fencing.
Both Tatijana and her mother, Dagmar, shared many favorite memories of John both with fencing and in life in general, as well as different life lessons John wanted Tatijana to remember. From a young age, John taught Tatijana the importance of working hard, getting the job done right, and learning to grow as a person. Tatijana has been able to use these lessons both with fencing and in school. “You don’t get down even if you can’t see the results right away,” she said. “Life goes on; you do your best no matter what.”
Right now, Tatijana and her mother have a lot of decisions to make about the future. Tatijana will be attending Weber High School and continue to get ready to fence in a tournament in October held in Portland where she will be competing in the 17 and Under Division 1. After that, things become more complicated. Fencing is a very expensive sport which is why John and Tatijana were seeking donations from the community before John passed away. Dagmar was also making scarves for those who donated money as well and said she may continue to do that during the fall. Both Dagmar and Tatijana may move to Germany where Dagmar is originally from, but they’re not sure yet. “The scary part is not knowing, but we’ll see what happens next year,” Dagmar said. She said the main thing is wanting to do what’s best for Tatijana and herself.
Still, Tatijana has her sights set on attending an Ivy League college where she would like to study law and continue to fence in the NCAA, with the biggest goal of one day competing in the Olympics. For now though she plans on maintaining good grades, working as a 10th grade student officer, and learning to drive. To make donations for the Stewart family, go to any Wells Fargo Bank under ‘Donations for Tatijana Stewart's Fencing Endeavors’ account in memory of her dad.”
