Our Coaches - Tidewater Fencing Club

Meet Our Coaches

All Tidewater Fencing Club coaches are trained, certified, and background checked through the USA Fencing FenceSafe program in order to promote a safe and positive environment for athletes’ physical, emotional, and social development.

Tim Vincent

Club President, Épée & Foil Coach

Tim oversees all club operations, teaches beginner & intermediate foil and épée classes, participates in open fencing, and offers one-on-one lessons. He began fencing in 1998 as a member of Virginia Tech Fencing Club, where he quickly began competing in Virginia Division and collegiate fencing tournaments. His primary weapon is épée but he has tournament experience with all three weapons. He has fenced with several clubs as a guest, including one in Germany, and joined Tidewater Fencing Club in 2001. He began teaching beginners at TFC within about two years of joining the club, and eventually restructured the beginner classes into the system that is still in use today. He has been a co-chair of the club since the beginning of 2011 and since then has refreshed the club’s image with a new logo and club colors, a new website, and club clothing. In 2015 he helped secure a new, permanent facility for TFC.

Meredith Powers

Club Vice President, Foil Coach, Armorer

Coach Meredith is the current club Vice President, Publicity Officer, and a Foil Coach. She began fencing at Tallwood High School in 2005, and returned to help coach her high school club after graduating. She started fencing with Tidewater Fencing Club in 2006, and began to teach beginner classes for TFC in 2010. She currently holds a Moniteur d’ Fleuret Certification from the US Fencing Coaches Association.

Coach Meredith is one of fewer than 10 women in the USA who holds a competitive rating in all three weapon disciplines, but loves foil the most, competing at the local, regional, and national levels. She was the 2016 Virginia Division Champion for Women’s Foil.

You’ll often see her refereeing local, regional, and some national tournaments, fixing equipment in the armory, and also volunteering as a board member and Secretary for the Virginia Division of USA Fencing.

James Newsome

Foil & Épée Coach, Armorer

2023 USA VETERAN MEN’S EPEE TEAM WORLD CHAMPION

James offers one-on-one lessons in foil and épée, and participates in open fencing for both weapons. He began fencing in 1970 with the Norfolk Fencing Club and co-founded Tidewater Fencing Club in 1972. He was the club’s first President and head coach until 1985, while also coaching at ODU and the YMCA. During this time he competed in all three weapons, winning state championships multiple times for all three. He was an assistant coach at Rutgers University from 1987 to 1991, after which he went on hiatus until 2013 when he began working as a personal coach at Hub City Fencing in Edison, New Jersey. He returned to TFC in 2014 and now serves as armorer as well as a coach and is competitive in épée at local and national levels.

Coach James represented Team USA at the 2023 Veteran World Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida. He placed 6th in the world for the Individual Vet 70 Men’s Epee event, and fought hard with Team USA to win gold, becoming the 2023 Veteran Men’s Epee Team World Champions.

TIM MULLIGAN

Foil & Épée Coach

Tim Mulligan offers private fencing lessons in foil and épée at Tidewater Fencing Club. Tim began fencing in 2002 in Mid-Michigan with his father and brother. Later, he was a founding member and fencing coach at the Jackson Fencing Club in Jackson, MI. Tim received a NCAA Athletic Scholarship for fencing at Wayne State University. At Wayne State Tim had an overall winning record as fencer and was the foil squad leader from 2007-2011 and the Men’s team captain from 2009-2011. Additionally, Tim worked as the Wayne State team armorer from 2009-2011. As a fencer, Tim was coached by his father (Dan Mulligan), NCAA champion Bruce Davis, Mike Cho, and Maestro Jerzy Radz.

Tim has worked professionally as a fencing coach for approximately 5 years at Nova Fencing Club and has worked with Greg Kaidanov, Gill Pezza, and Sandro Berto to develop his coaching. Tim is a regional-level fencing referee and occasionally referees foil, epee, and saber events.

JIM THOMPSON

Assistant Foil Coach

Jim brings with him a wealth of collegiate fencing experience, and a true passion for the sport. Jim began fencing in high school with the Oberlin College Fencing Club. After which, he attended the Univ. of Notre Dame where he was a 4-year letterman, and varsity team member from 1979-1982, accumulating 98 career wins, contributing to the teams’ 122 meet winning streak – the longest in NCAA history. Jim was the Foil Team Captain during the 1982 season, leading the foil squad to a 20-1 record that year.

Jim is a retired US Navy Flight Officer with a Master’s of Science in Education from ODU.

Determined to give back to the sport that has given him so much, he supports coaching the beginner and intermediate classes, and coaches students working to master foil fundamentals.