July 20, 2001
Notre Dame fencing coach Yves Auriol was recognized by his peers as the 2001 national collegiate coach of the year, as announced Wednesday at the annual meeting of the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA).
Auriol-who has coached the Irish women’s fencing team since 1985, in addition to spending the past seven years as Notre Dame’s men’s fencing coach-guided Notre Dame to a third-place finish at the 2001 NCAA Combined Fencing Championships. The Irish men posted a 25-0 regular-season record and were ranked No. 1 in the nation while the women were 21-4 and ranked fourth nationally. An unprecedented six Notre Dame men’s fencers earned All-America honors in 2001 while two Irish women’s fencers earned All-America status.
During Auriol’s tenure, Notre Dame fencers have combined for 54 All-America honors (six of them NCAA champions), plus five Academic All-America citations. His 1987 squad claimed the NCAA women’s fencing title while his ’94 women’s squad helped Notre Dame win the NCAA combined title. Seven other Irish teams have finished as the NCAA runner-up during Auriol’s time at Notre Dame.
“As a former Olympic coach and a French fencing master, Yves Auriol has become one of the most respected fencing coaches in the country,” said USFCA secretary-treasurer Richard Gradkowski.
“Yves has done an excellent job at training fencers and his background is impeccable-they don’t make them like him anymore,” added Gradkowski. “Notre Dame is one of the nation’s premier fencing powers and it is a challenge to maintain that level of excellence. Yves has met that challenge and has done an excellent job in his years at Notre Dame.”
Former Notre Dame fencing coach Mike DeCicco said that the honor for Auriol was lone overdue.
“Yves is very deserving of this honor and the biggest surprise is that he wasn’t recognized earlier for his outstanding talent as a fencing coach,” said DeCicco. “I obviously am happy for him and will be even happier on the day when he wins his first NCAA team title-because he certainly is deserving of that accomplishment as well.”
Auriol-whose squad is set to return all 12 of its NCAA competitors from 2001 while welcoming a highly-accomplished freshman class-also recently was presented with an honorary monogram by the Notre Dame National Monogram Club, in recognition of his many years of quality service to the Irish fencing program.
“Being named coach of the year is a tremendous honor but it really is more of a tribute to the great season that our teams had and to the accomplishments we have had during my time at Notre Dame,” said Auriol, whose 1996-2000 teams all finished as the NCAA combined runner-up.
“Seventeen years ago, I had to make a choice between Notre Dame and another top fencing school and I decided to come to Notre Dame because of its reputation and what the school stands for,” added Auriol. “My time at Notre Dame has been very rewarding and there are many people who have made the fencing program such a great success. I’m very excited about the upcoming season and we certainly could have the makings to win a national championship.”
Auriol’s women’s teams have lost just 22 matches during his tenure (344-22) and his 2000 men’s squad produced three fencers who placed among the top three at the NCAAs-a feat matched just once previously in the program’s storied history.
A native of France, Auriol graduated in 1955 from Lycee de Toulouse before earning a master’s degree as a fencing master from the Institute National du Sport in Paris. He moved in 1972 to Portland, Ore., where he formed the Salle Auriol Fencing Club and spent some time as the women’s fencing coach at Portland State from 1975-85.
A former professional rugby player, he joined Notre Dame in the summer of 1985 and serves as an instructor in the physical education department.
Auriol has served as a coach with the United States team at three Olympic Games (1980-88) while also helping coach U.S. fencers at various world championship events in the late 1970s.
Under Auriol’s tutelage, former Notre Dame All-American Molly Sullivan was a two-time NCAA champion and led the Irish to the ’87 national title. She won a gold medal at the 1986Pan Am Games before competing in the ’88 and ’92 Olympics.
Auriol and his wife, Georgette, are parents of a son, Stephane, a four-year foilist on the Notre Dame fencing team who graduated in 1999. The couple resides in Elkhart, Ind., where Auriol is an active participant in the local tennis scene.