The three amigos

Lu, Lidow, McGill temper competitive natures with enduring friendship

The Penn State men's foil team may possess the perfect combination of rivalry and friendship, which it uses as motivation to be the best in the nation.

"We are very tight," said sophomore Gang Lu. "Off the strip, we are very good friends. On the strip, we help each other out. We know we are the strongest weapon on the team and we do our best to cheer up the entire team. Everyone has the same goal."

The goal is to continually grow stronger as a unit, and the foil fencers' practice routine makes it all the more possible to achieve.

After receiving individual lessons from coaches Emmanuil Kaidanov and Wes Glon, the foilsmen take their practice to the fencing strip, where they work on new methods against some of the best competition they see all season -- themselves.

But their fencing prosperity has not come overnight. Nor did it arrive accidentally. The trio attributes their success to an intricate blend of a friendship that supersedes fencing and hard work in practice.

And they refuse to take it easy on each other.

"We basically fence each other as if it were a national tournament," Lidow said. "We fence our hardest against each other. We never slack off. If I beat Gang one day in practice, I feel good. Likewise for Donnie."

- Emmanuil Kaidanov, Fencing Coach

"All three of them are fighters. All three of them go right at it," he said. "They have so much fun during practice. They push themselves to learn more techniques, and more tricks to use during the competition."

They may be fighters on the strip, but off it, they're best friends. In fact, when they aren't busy preparing for a big weekend of competition, they do what typical friends do.

Lidow and Lu, who happen to be roommates, host parties or rent Lu's favorite John Woo-directed action films.

They also help each other study and stay in shape.

They visit each other's homes during breaks from school. Last winter, Lu traveled to McGill's hometown of Los Angeles. McGill said he has made the same journey to Lidow's home near Chicago, and hopes Lidow can make the trip to L.A. soon.

For more than four months, fencing has been the life of each member of the men's foil trio. They have worked for improvement day in and day out. They have cheered each other on during the meets. They have been each other's closest friends.

But this weekend, the Mid Atlantic/South Regional Fencing Championships rolls around. The tournament goes a long way in deciding which fencers go to the NCAA Championships at South Bend, Ind., which begin on Mar. 19. Even though all three foilsmen will compete this weekend, NCAA rules state only two members of each weapon can go to the championships. So no matter how well they do individually, one will be forced to stay home while his friends attempt to fulfill a dream at NCAAs.

"We knew what the NCAA selection process was when we started the team," Lidow said. "Whoever is not going (to NCAAs) is not going to have hard feelings toward the other two."

Their friendships are too important to let that happen.