Charlotte's World Wide Web

Fencer Charlotte Walker's world tour runs through Happy Valley

She has experienced scorching Australian summers. She has learned the finer points of speaking the Hungarian language. She fenced her way to a World Cup championship in Poland.

Indeed, freshman Charlotte Walker has seemingly been around the world and back -- all before her 20th birthday.

Now, she has brought her fencing talents to Happy Valley. And by all accounts, the Lady Lion fencers are content to have Walker fencing with them and not against them.

The 1997-98 fencing season has been very successful for Walker. In October, she finished in third place in the women's epee competition at the Canada Open Elite. The following month, at the NAC Open in Rochester, N.Y., Walker took second place in the senior epee division. The weekend after that, Walker finally reached the top of the mountain, winning women's epee at the Garrett Penn State Open.

Her overall record stands at 18-2 -- a record that saw its only two blemishes come two weeks ago during the Lions' home loss to Stanford. Yet the most intriguing thing about Walker may not have anything to do with her first-year record. It may be the road she has taken to get this far.

It all began during her middle school days in her native Australia, where fencing is about as prevalent as blizzards and ice storms. When she noticed fencing being offered as a school activity, Walker decided to give the sport a try.

She became hooked, and once-a-week classes quickly turned into large-scale competitions. Walker competed nationally until she made the Under-17 Australian National Team in 1994, an event that exposed her to international competition. After that, she headed off to Hungary to compete and, more importantly, to learn the sport.

During the three months she spent in Hungary, Walker had the opportunity to train with her heroes in fencing -- the Hungarian Women's Epee Team. Walker used the experience to master some of the skills that made the Hungarian women so successful.

"The intensity of their training and bouting is so important," Walker explained. "They taught me to bring that intensity to the strip -- to bring a presence."

By her own admission, moving from Australia to Hungary was a tough transition. Walker found it difficult, all of a sudden, to communicate with people. The finer points of fencing weren't all she had to learn. She had to adjust to an entirely new way of life.

After Walker left Hungary, she traveled with the fencing World Cup Circuit. During the 1996-97 season, she won an Under-20 World Cup event in Warsaw, Poland.

"It was the highlight of my career," Walker said. "It's not often that a non-European wins a World Cup event."

State College was the next stop on the Charlotte Walker World Tour.

Before enrolling at Penn State, Walker had never even visited the campus. But once she arrived, she found making friends was as easy for her as winning fencing bouts, and another potentially tough transition of moving to a different country was going more smoothly. Now, she didn't have to deal with a language difference, or a completely different culture.

"Compared to Australia, (America) is pretty similar," Walker said. "The lifestyle is not too different from Australia. Australia is pretty Americanized."

Another transition Walker is making with ease is the concept of fencing on a team. Before, she competed basically as an individual. Now training is different.

"It's a big transition coming onto a team (after fencing for individual goals in competitions)," said Jackson. "It can be a hard adjustment. You get used to your own routine, and that changes."

Walker said her recent exposure to a team setting has been a positive one.

"I realize why the team is so successful," Walker said. "Everyone on the team cares about how everyone else is fencing. It's a nice environment to be involved in."

That news is good for the women's fencers. They like Walker's athleticism and fencing prowess almost as much as her personality.

"Charlotte is a very interesting lady," head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "It's a pleasure to have her on the team and to work with her."

Walker likes her new surroundings. She likes going to school. She likes fencing on a collegiate team. Nevertheless, there is one thing Walker wishes she could bring from Australia -- summer weather.

But she'll take the cold. With greater opportunities available, Walker admits she's happy right where she is.

"I think because America is a much bigger country, availability is greater -- education- and research-wise," she said. "In that way, it's nicer here."