Staff
Head Coach
Contact Information: e-mail: beguinet@duke.edu Mailing address: |
Head coach Alex Beguinet enters his 23rd season at the helm of the Duke program. Beguinet has compiled a 303-358 (.458) overall record in his 22 years with the Blue Devils. A native of France, Beguinet came to Duke after serving eight years as the head fencing coach at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore. Beguinet was the owner/director of Salle La Boessiere in Portland from 1980-84. He instructed for the city of Portland’s Park Bureau for eight years and coached for Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Clark College in Vancouver, Wash., Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., and Portland Community College. In Beguinet’s time at Duke, the women’s program has compiled a 134-190 record under his direction and produced four All-Americas, while the men’s program has posted a 169-168 mark with seven All-Americans and one National Champion. Beguinet has helped Blue Devil Fencers in reaching the NCAA Fencing Championships for 21 of his 22 years. Beguinet served at US Fencing’s Junior Olympic Training Camps as a staff member from 1977-80 and again from 1983-88, and has served as coach for several International Cadet Championships and World Championships. Beguinet participated as a coach at the fencing events for seven Olympic Festivals. Alex Beguinet is the Director of the US Fencing Association’s coaching education program, Coaches College, a position he has held since 1993, and has been a member of that coaching education staff since the program was implemented in 1985. He spends the summer seasons in Colorado Springs, Colorado instructing at the Coaches College held annually at the US Olympic Training Center, with Olympic years off. Born in Toulouse, France, Maitre Beguinet received his Master of Arms Degree from the National Sports Institute in Paris in 1976. He lives with his artist wife of 24 years, Elizabeth. They have one daughter, Heather, who is a Duke alum.
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Leslie Marx enters her sixth season as an assistant coach at Duke. A 1989 graduate of Duke, Marx is the most celebrated Blue Devil fencer, having won the 1995 Pan American Championship as well as finishing 16th in women’s epee at the 1996 Olympics. While at Duke, the former Leslie McFarland competed in the NCAA Regionals, while also earning Academic All-America honors. Following graduation at Duke with a degree in mathematics, she went on to get her Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern. Marx returned to Duke in 2002 as an Associate Professor of Economics at the Fuqua School of Business. |
Volunteer Coach
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Bob Manchen begins his fourth season as a volunteer coach this year. He was a member of the Duke foil team as an undergraduate student from 1995-99. As a Blue Devil, Manchen twice represented Duke at the NCAA Championships, while also competing at NCAA Regionals in each of his four seasons. Manchen, a former team captain, has also competed extensively on the national level throughout his fencing career. He returned to Duke in 2003 to pursue an MBA and joined Duke’s faculty as an investment manager at Duke Management Company in 2005. |
Volunteer Coach
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Brenda Neece enters her fourth year on the Duke fencing staff. She has taught beginning fencing at the University of Oxford, Magdalen College School (Oxford), Peace College, NCFDP and Edinburgh Activity Camps. She started fencing when she arrived in Oxford, fenced for Oxford as an Assassin and took several coaching courses through the British Fencing Association. She has more recently taken courses at the USFA Coaches College. Dr. Neece is also the curator of the Duke University Musical Instrument Collections. She earned her undergraduate degree at North Carolina, where she was an interdisciplinary studies major in music history, art history and archaeology. She earned her cello performance master’s degree at Auburn University in 1993 and was granted a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 2002. |
Volunteer Coach
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Former Blue Devil fencer Jaimie West begins her first season as a volunteer coach at Duke. West was a member of the epee squad as an undergraduate student from 2001-2005 and represented Duke at the NCAA Regionals in each of her four seasons. West was also a team captain in her senior year. She currently works for a histology research lab in Hillsborough, N.C. |
