July 3, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame fencing head coach Janusz Bednarski has signed a multi-year contract extension to remain with the Fighting Irish. Bednarski recently completed his sixth campaign as Notre Dame’s head coach. Bednarski has guided Notre Dame to two NCAA titles (2003 and 2005).
Annually, Bednarski has the Fighting Irish among the elite programs in the nation. This past season, Notre Dame was the runner-up at the NCAA Championships after having the men and women combine to go 56-6 during the regular season. Notre Dame has an overall combined regular-season record of 298-25 during Bednarski’s six years at the helm.
“It’s a great pleasure and honor to be able to continue the program here at Notre Dame,” Bednarski said. “This is such a great place because education is so important and you are able to prepare the student-athletes for their lives after college. I’m very fortunate to be here because I am able to teach them good character through sports. I am also fortunate to work with great coaches who give all the knowledge they have to the team. The administration also gives nothing but the best for our program.”
In his first season as the Irish headmaster, Bednarski led the squad to the 2003 NCAA crown. Following a third-place finish at the 2004 NCAAs, Bednarski had the Fighting Irish back on top with a national title in 2005. Fourth-place showings in 2006 and 2007 preceded a runner-up performance by Notre Dame in 2008.
Bednarski has brought in a plethora of talent to the program during his time at Notre Dame, which includes an eight-year stint as an assistant coach prior to becoming head coach. In addition to the team titles, Notre Dame fencers have been crowned individual national champions on eight instances under Bednarski’s direction as head coach.
The Fighting Irish have qualified the maximum allotment of 12 fencers for the NCAA Championship on three occasions, including this past season, since Bednarski took over the reins in 2003. In 2008, Notre Dame boasted 11 All-Americans and two individual national champions. In all, Bednarski has had a student-athlete reach All-America status 54 times during his tenure as head coach.
“We last won the (NCAA) championship in 2005 and I believe we are getting closer and closer to another one,” Bednarski added. “We have individuals winning gold so we are close to being the best as a team. We know it’ll take hard work to get there again but the future is encouraging and exciting.”
Bednarski, a sabre specialist, served as head coach of the Escrime du Lac Fencing Club in Mishawaka, Ind. (also known as the Indiana Fencing Academy) from 1994-2002 and has been a member of many advisory panels for the U.S. Fencing Association, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association. He is licensed by Federation International D’Escrime as an “A” category fencing director and is one of just a handful of fencing specialists in North America who are ranked by the International Fencing Federation.
The native of Poland has wide-reaching experience that includes participating in the organizational efforts for World Championships held in Denver (1989 and ’91), and South Bend (2000). Bednarski was selected as the Midwest Region coach of the year by the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association in 1997 and 1999.
Fluent in several languages, Bednarski in 1970 received his master’s degree in business from Warsaw’s prestigious SGPiS Business College, where he worked as a lecturer in economics. He obtained his coaching diploma from the Academy of Physicial Education in 1978 and has published several articles on coaching, effective club management and counseling of athletes.
A resident of Granger, Ind., Bednarski and his wife, Izabella, have two sons: Michael and Andrzej, a three-time sabre All-American and 2002 graduate of Notre Dame who served as an intern assistant coach on his father’s staff during the 2005 and ’06 seasons.
— ND —