Jaelyn Liu: How it all began
Liu grew up in Texas in the outskirts of Dallas. About a year ago, she moved with her family to the Boston area, where fencing is more weaved into New England culture. She started the sport when she was four – around the same time she took up ballet.
At the age of nine, she had to pick between the two. She chose fencing.
“Dance has really impacted my fencing a lot,” she explained. “That’s how I’ve been able to, I’d say, find my flow, find my rhythm. I think it’s helped me with the timing of my hits… and my flexbility. I haven’t gotten injured as much as other athletes.
“I credit that to dance,” she said of her injury-free career so far.
The move to Boston meant a new school, new friends and a new training centre for her fencing. Having travelled so much for competitions, she said her social group is mostly among her fencing teammates.
“I’m much closer to my fencing friends that I’ve made here,” she said. “I’ve lived more outside [on the road] than I do in my actual house.”
Making up missed homework can be stressful for the high school junior-to-be, especially with the handful of honours classes she has been taking. “I’ve learned how to balance it,” a mature Liu said.