Feb. 21, 2011
Fencing has been a part of Sarah Borrmann’s life for nearly as long as she can remember. Borrmann, a saber specialist, practiced at the club level under former Notre Dame assistant coach Ed Korfanty with the elite Oregon Fencing Alliance. She quickly burst onto the national scene upon arriving at Notre Dame, becoming the NCAA Saber Champion in her freshman year. A native of Beaverton, Ore., she has become one of the team’s veteran leaders, and has been a captain for the past two seasons. Borrmann recently competed at the Duke Duals, where she went 1-0, and the Northwestern Duals, where she went 8-3. With a career winning percentage of .908, the two-time All-Ameican clearly knows how to win at the collegiate level. Borrmann recently talked with UND.com’s Tom McGuire to tell us more about herself.
If you could trade places with your coach for a day, what would you do? If I could trade places with coach Ian Farr for one day, I would yell at Sarah Borrmann all day long.
What is most memorable about your high school years? When I look back to my high school years, I remember having the feeling that I knew so much and was on top of the world and realize just how stupid I was back then.
When did you fence for the first time? It was so long ago that I can’t really remember my first time fencing. I must have been about seven or eight years old. The first year or two was pretty much little kids running around with swords. It was pretty fun and then I got serious about it later on.
Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions? I definitely don’t have any pre-game rituals or superstitions. Believing in stuff like that can just mess your game up if anything goes wrong. You should find confidence from yourself, not rituals.
Where is your favorite place to eat on campus? My favorite place to eat on campus is Greenfields, hands down!
What is your favorite memory with your teammates? In competition I would say my favorite memory with teammates was when we all won the Midwest Conference last year. The tournament doesn’t seem like that big of a deal but we beat Ohio State after nine straight years of losing to them. Everyone was pretty jazzed.
Describe your perfect day – who would you spend it with, what would you do, and where would you be? Right now, I would love to go home, chill out with my parents, make fun of my dad for watching American Idol when I’m away at college, cook some dinner and hang out with my dog Scampy.
What is your dream job? My dream job would be to work for the IMF. I’m not an economics major, but I wish I was for that job.
What’s your favorite TV show? What do you like about it? Right now it’s Modern Family. The characters are so incredibly loveable and the writing is hysterical.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? If I could travel anywhere in the world, I’d pull a Henry Rollins and take the Trans-Siberian Express across Russia.
Who was your role model growing up? Why? My role model growing up was probably my current coach Ian Farr, to tell the truth. I’ve known him since I started fencing.
What is your theme song? My theme song would be “Your Love is my Drug” by Ke$ha.
Who is your inspiration? My dad is my inspiration — he’s so incredibly compassionate. It’s amazing.
What is your favorite sport, other than fencing? My favorite sport other than fencing would be either volleyball or soccer. We used to play these games to warm up before practice and everyone got so into it that it basically turned into an all out war. Good times.
What does being a part of the Fighting Irish program mean to you? There’s really something about putting that interlocking ND on. Everything about this university makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger and that’s an incredible feeling.
What annoys you the most? What annoys me the most is when my roommates try to do things like cook eggs or chop garlic and totally fail at it. Those are things I thought were impossible to fail at.
What is your favorite professional sports team? My favorite professional sports team is the Washington Redskins. They’re so bad, but they still make you feel like you’re rooting for America.
Do you have any nicknames? People just call me by my last name, Borrmann. Actually, that may really be the thing that annoys me the most.
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done? Last semester I came home from practice on a Thursday night and one of my roommates looked up from the table and asked me if I wanted to go to New York for the Notre Dame-Army game. I said yes and she told me to shower and pack. An hour later we were driving over night to New York for the game and booking a hotel on an iPhone somewhere in the middle of Ohio. We ended up getting free tickets to the game and having the absolute time of our lives.
What was the biggest thing that attracted you here to Notre Dame? I’m from Oregon and went to a big public school and I didn’t really know anything about Notre Dame when I signed my letter of intent, but I decided to come here based on its reputation for academics. I wish I could say I had a better story about what attracted me here, but once I showed up I knew this was going to be the best four years of my life.