After just celebrating his 17th birthday six days ago, Team Virgin Islands (ISV) Kruz Schembri notched a top-10 finish in the Men’s Individual Foil competition Tuesday during the 2023 Pan American Games being held in Santiago, Chile. Schembri was also the youngest of the 19 competitors in the Men’s Individual Foil event.
Even more remarkable is the fact that Schembri qualified for the Pan American Games during the 2022 Pan American Championships in Asuncion, Paraguay. “I did it when I was 15!” Schembri said. “To represent the VI while I’m here also means a lot. I’m just using that as motivation for every point, every bout, going on through this tournament and onwards, so it really means a lot to be here.”
As a young, home-schooled athlete, Schembri puts in the hours and the work that make his success no fluke. Competing in cross-country track events is also a passion of his, and between Fencing and Cross-country he stays in competitive shape. According to Schembri, he usually spends three days a week fencing for two hours and runs 40–50 miles a week. Statistics on fencingtracker.com has a summery for Kruz as a member of the Masters Fencing Club/Tampa’s Fencing and Tennis Academy with an all-time record of 929 wins and 259 losses for a winning ratio of 78.2%.
To stay on top of his game, Schembri has to keep competing at high levels with the best fencers available, so he has a few items upcoming on his calendar. “The U20 World Cup Season starts soon, so during the winter and into spring I’ll be attending Junior World Cups, and I have the Olympic Qualifier in April,” Schembri concluded.
