NEW YORK – Former Columbia fencing star, Daria Schneider, who was crowned the 2007 NCAA Champion and 2014 Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, was announced earlier this week as the eighth head coach of women's fencing at Cornell University. At 29 years old, Schneider is currently the second youngest head coach of an NCAA Division I fencing program, behind only Lafayette College head coach Jarrod Rottau.
A world-class fencer that has consistently ranked among the highest in the nation and the world in sabre and has been a member of five U.S. National teams, Schneider brings an outstanding record of achievement to her position at Cornell. Ranked as high as second in the nation and 13th in the world, she won a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2011 and 2012 as a member of the U.S. National Team. In 2011, she won a U.S. Fencing National Championship and has won more than 50 combined national and international medals over her career.
A member of the USA Fencing Board of Directors since 2012, Schneider also serves as an athlete representative to the USA Fencing Athlete Advisory committee, a position she has held since 2008, and is an alternate representative for USA Fencing to the U.S. Olympic Athlete Advisory Committee.
A graduate of Columbia University, and one of the top fencers in school history, Schneider also served on the Lions' coaching staff from 2010-14, holding positions as the director of fencing operations, head assistant coach, and the program's interim head coach. At the time, she was the youngest head coach of a men's and women's Division I NCAA program.
Schneider won the NCAA championship in women's sabre as a sophomore in 2007. After taking a year off to train for a spot on the 2008 United States Olympic team, she returned for her junior year to claim bronze at the 2009 NCAA championships.
For her NCAA career, Schneider finished with an overall record of 158-28. She was a two-time team co-captain, a three-time first team All-Ivy League selection, a three-time Academic All-Ivy pick, and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. She was elected into the Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.
Schneider holds a Bachelor of Arts in Russian literature and language from Columbia.
