MEDIA
• Coaches' Corner (6/30/22)
• D1Fencing.com Interview (7/19/21)
• ESPN3 Interview (1/4/20)
• 2024 MPSF Head Coach of the Year
• Finalist for 2023 USFCA National Collegiate Coach of the Year
• 2x UC San Diego Excellence in Coaching Award winner (2022, 2025)
Juan Ignacio Calderon was named head coach of the UC San Diego fencing program in July of 2018.
2024-25
A historic 2024-25 campaign saw both the men's and women's teams capture the first MPSF Championships in program history. Calderon also coached three individual MPSF champions in Zehra Anbarlilar (foil), Zara Fearns (saber) and Jacob Levy (foil) and three NCAA West Regional champions in Alexandra Cody (saber), Katherine Kim (foil) and Sunny Sharma (epee).
Cody, Kim and Sharma all qualified for the National Collegiate Fencing Championships alongside epeeists Dayus Gohel and Alice Lan. Kim finished seventh at nationals to earn Second Team All-American honors and secure the third-best finish all-time by a female Triton fencer.
The Triton men finished 14th in the final SPI rankings, with the women 15th. The two squads combined for 13 All-Region and 14 All-Conference selections. Three Tritons earned major MPSF awards. Katherine Kim was the Female Fencer of the Year, with Dayus Gohel and Alice Lan both claiming Newcomer of the Year honors.
Calderon also oversaw excellence in the classroom as both the men and women's teams earned All-Academic Team awards from the United States Fencing Coaches Association. In total, the Tritons had 31 individual USFCA All-Academic recipients. Additional academic awards saw 18 Tritons honored on the MPSF All-Academic Team and five on the CSC Academic All-District Team.
At UC San Diego's end-of-season awards ceremony, the fencing team was honored with the Leon T. Roach Spirit Award. Calderon received the Excellence in Coaching Award, marking the second time he has received Triton Athletics' coach of the year honor.
2023-24
The 2023-24 season saw both the men's (16-12) and women's (18-10) teams finish the year with their best-ever regular season records under Calderon. The women picked up the program's first victories over NYU, North Carolina and Penn State en route to finishing the season ranked No. 15 nationally.
UC San Diego hosted the NCAA West Regionals and MPSF Championship, and the Tritons fared well in both. Hananiah So and Arnav Raja finished first and second in men's saber duing Regionals, and Scott Lao won the foil competition. MPSF Championships were won by Zara Fearns (saber) and Renee Zuhars (epee).
Renee Zuhars (epee) made her second-straight appearance at the National Collegiate Fencing Championships, finishing 15th. The men's team was represented at nationals by Scott Lao (foil), Arnav Raja (saber) and Hananiah So (saber), with all three finishing in the top 25.
The MPSF recognized Calderon as the conference's Head Coach of the Year. He was joined in the conference's list of honorees by freshman Hananiah So, who was named the Men's Newcomer of the Year. Seven Tritons received All-Conference honors, and 11 were named to the All-Region Team.
The team continued to be honored for academic success, with both the men and women receiving USFCA All-Academic Team distinction. The Tritons also had 15 fencers earn individual USFCA All-Academic awards and 19 selected as MPSF All-Academic recipients. Janna Aboudaher and Renee Zuhars were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
Renee Zuhars was chosen for UC San Diego Athletics' All-Tritons Team. The women's team received the school's Cliff Kubiak Team GPA Award.
2022-23
In 2022-23, Calederon's Tritons saw six fencers qualify for the National Collegiate Fencing Championships, with all six finishing in the top 25. Renee Zuhars (epee) was the lone representative from the women's team, finishing 18th. Vedran Markota (18th) and Derek Rong (23rd) represented men's epee, while men's foil saw Jacob Levy and Larry Song finish together in 22nd and 23rd. Shawn Kim (saber) returned to nationals looking to build on his 2021-22 performance, but he ultimately finished 23rd after being forced to withdraw due to an injury.
At the NCAA West Regionals, seven Tritons finished on the podium. Two epeeists, Vedran Markota and Renee Zuhars, won their respective events. Shawn Kim (saber), Larry Song (foil) and Kyra Wu (foil) earned silver medals, while Jacob Levy (foil) and Jerry Pan (saber) took home bronze.
The team also fared well at the MPSF Championship. On the women's side, Renee Zuhars (epee) finished second and Tean Brooks (epee) and Kyra Wu (foil) both finished third. The men had six medal finishes, with one gold being won by Vedran Markota in epee. Jerry Pan (saber) and Larry Song (foil) took home second. Third place finishes went to Shawn Kim (saber), Isaac Ive (epee) and Jacob Levy (foil).
The Tritons had 12 fencers earn All-Region honors and nine named to the All-Conference Team. Both the men and women were named USFCA All-Academic Teams, and 31 Tritons were honored by the organization with individual All-Academic awards. The team was further honored for its success in the classroom with 19 MPSF All-Academic selections and five College Sports Communicatiors Academic All-District awards.
UC San Diego Athletics' end-of-year Triton Awards included Verdan Markota being named to the All-Triton Team. Markota and Isaac Ive were named to the All-Triton Academic Team.
The men's team finished the season ranked No. 10 nationally. Calderon was named a finalist for the USFCA Collegiate Coach of the Year award, which is presented annually to the best college coach in the nation.
2021-22
Over the 2021-22 season, Calderon's fourth leading the Tritons, the team put together a historic campaign with several major victories and yet another trip to the National Collegiate Fencing Championships.
In early December, UC San Diego traveled to the Elite Invitational at Ohio State for the first time in program history. There the men's team compiled a 5-1 record with victories against No. 3 Ohio State and No. 7 Penn. Milan Rona went 14-2 in Men's Epee and Julia Hill put together an impressive 18-3 mark in Women's Saber.
At the NCAA West Regionals in San Antonio, Shawn Kim successfully defended his West Region Men's Saber Champion title. Sarah Shen became the 2022 West Region Saber Champion on the women's side. Alongside Kim and Shen, three other Tritons, including Rafaella Gomes (foil), Hill, and Justin Park (saber), finished on the podium to earn automatic berths in the National Collegiate Championships.
The very next day at the first-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships, Kim added another title to his resume by winning the Men's Saber event.
At Nationals, Kim took third, equaling the best-ever individual finish by a Triton. UC San Diego placed 13th overall, which tied the program's top finish at a full-field Nationals.
To wrap up an outstanding season, Kim was tabbed the USFCA Men's Saber Fencer of the Year as well as the MPSF Men's Fencer of the Year. A total of 23 Tritons were recognized with All-Academic honors from the USFCA. Calderon was the recipient of UC San Diego's Excellence in Coaching Award.
2020-21
Although the 2020-21 season was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Calderon and the Tritons certainly made the best of it.
With just two official events on the slate, UC San Diego wasted no time making history by winning Western Fencing Conference team titles on both the men's and women's sides for the first time in program history.
The Tritons then fielded a full team of 12 competitors, another first, at the NCAA National Collegiate Championships at Penn State. They placed seventh of 19 squads, their best-ever showing at Nationals. UC San Diego finished just six points behind sixth-place North Carolina and seven points back from fifth-place St. John's.
Three Tritons earned All-America honors at the 2021 Nationals as Vedran Markota was ninth in epee, Benjamin Hadler was 10th in foil, and Emma Zmurk took 11th in epee.
2019-20
In 2019-20, Calderon had five Tritons qualify for the National Collegiate Championships before the remainder of the team's campaign was canceled due to COVID-19. All five - Hadler (foil), Amelia Harrison (epee), Ziad Khayat (epee), Shawn Kim (saber), and Justin Park (saber) - were automatic qualifiers due to their impressive finishes at the West Regional. In fact, Kim finished his freshman season as the region's saber champion.
Both the Triton men and women received votes in the national poll.
2018-19
In his first season as head coach, Calderon led UC San Diego to a 13th-place finish at the National Collegiate Championships, equaling the program's best-ever placing at the time. Three of the five Tritons competing at nationals earned All-America accolades including Khayat, who finished seventh, the highest for any Triton male in school history.
Both the Triton men and women received votes in the national poll.
2017-18
Calderon spent the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach at UC San Diego, primarily working with the team's epeeists. He helped three Tritons qualify for the NCAA Championships in the weapon with Zach Kravitz placing 15th, Emma Zmurk 17th, and Emily Beihold 20th.
Personal
With 41 years of international experience across his native Spain, Germany, and the United States, Calderon has touched all aspects of fencing as a competitor, coach, referee, federation official, and tournament organizer.
Calderon began collaborating with the San Diego Fencing Center in 2011, where he currently serves as Head Coach. In addition, he was the Chairman of USA Fencing's San Diego Division for two years during which he drove a 30% increase in the number of competitive fencers.
In 2016, Calderon founded the Global Fencing Network, a non-profit that fosters collaboration between fencing clubs. Currently, it includes 200 clubs enrolled across 40 countries.
Between 1982 and 1991, Calderon coached in Spain at Club de Esgrima de Madrid as well as Sala de Armas de Madrid, considered the top club in the country. He was also a World Cup referee and the head of the Madrid Fencing Federation's referee commission for two years.
As a competitive fencer in Spain, Calderon was a two-time National Junior Team champion and the Spanish Military champion. At the Senior level, he was ranked among the top-10 for four-straight years.
Calderon also held several executive positions at a large technology company over a 20-year span before deciding to focus on fencing full-time.
A 1992 graduate of the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Calderon earned a degree in marketing and business administration.
