Courtney Hurley's sixth-place showing at the Nankin Grand Prix is her highest career finish at a grand prix event.

A World Away

Jan. 21, 2010

By Kelly Levis
Sports Information Student Assistant

For Courtney Hurley, being an international epée star just happens to be the family business. A sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, Courtney sat down to talk with UND.com about her family, her sport, and her exotic travels to international competitions.

At the beginning of October, Courtney Hurley travelled with her sister, Kelley, a senior at Notre Dame, to represent the United States in the world championships in Antayla, Turkey. They were accompanied by several other members of the Notre Dame fencing team, including Gerek Meinhardt, who also fenced for the US, in men’s foil.

The fencers were in Turkey for two weeks, leaving for the tournament a few days early so they would have time to adjust to the time difference. The tournament was set up differently than most others, with the first day’s fencing qualifying individuals to fence on the second day and the finals held a week later, in addition to team events interspersed throughout the time.

On their days off, the fencers were free to visit the beach, explore the area or do homework, as they wished. Hurley said that this trip was one of the hardest places to keep up with her work, because of the beauty of the surroundings. One day, the Hurleys, as well as several other fencers took a bus, touring the area, and then hiked up to the Olympic fire, the eternal flame that was on a mountain nearby. All these diversions made it hard to get schoolwork done.

“In Turkey, it was so hard. It was like a vacation, which made it difficult, especially because I did not room with my sister,” Hurley said. “I roomed with a really good friend of mine who also traveled there for the competition, and we just did not do any homework. When I came back, I was really behind.”

The biggest distraction was the beach; Hurley described the beaches in Antayla as perfect. She said they were “so pretty and sunny, with the clearest water I have ever seen.”

Hurley describes the food in Turkey as repetitive; “kebobs and more kebobs. It was just meat, meat, meat and meat. You could not be a vegetarian in Turkey, but it was very nice. Even though the food was not Western, the people running the tournament spoke English and were very hospitable.”

On the way back from Turkey, Hurley stopped in Bratislava, Slovakia, to fence in the Junior World Championships, as she does every year. There, she finished ninth in the tournament.

Fencing tournaments can be in some of the world’s loveliest places. Hurley’s favorite trips so far have been to Athens, Greece, where she visited the Olympic Stadium, fueling her desire to go to the Olympics, and Sydney, Australia. In Australia, the beautiful weather, the façade of the opera house and a boat tour around the island remain foremost in her memories.

Hurley also appreciates the friends she has made through international fencing tournaments. Thanks to the numerous fencing tournaments around the world, she has the opportunity to see these friends several times a year.

Hurley always has her sister, though. Most of the time, she travels and competes with Kelley. The big exceptions now are the junior championships open to those under the age of 20, in which Kelley can no longer compete.

The sisters have spent all of their lives together, attending the same schools, and training together. Their parents are always with them at competitions as well. Robert Hurley, their father, is a retired doctor, who met their mother, Tracy, the dean of Texas A&M’s business college, while both of them were fencing epee. The parents started Team Hurley Fencing Club in San Antonio and helped train their two daughters.

The sisters try to keep tension between them to a minimum, which is hard, because they are top fencers in their weapon. They had to fight each other for the one open spot on the U.S. team for the Olympic games in Beijing, China, a bout that Kelley won. In the coming Olympics though, a team will be sent, which means there are four spots, so there will not be a repeat scenario.

Hurley doesn’t have plans for what she’ll be doing after fencing, because, as she puts it, “I am going to be fencing for a while. I am definitely going to go to the Olympics, and then the Olympics after that which is in Rio, not Chicago. I wanted it to be in Chicago so badly.”

But, no surprise, Hurley has already been to Rio, too. She was there for the Pan American Games, which, in her words, are “like the Olympics, but for the Americas. I finished first there too.”

Hurley’s sport has allowed her to travel the world, bringing her family together, and providing her with a colorful set of international friends, memories and medals.

— ND —