The Tech’s Athlete of the Week:Igor Kopylov ’09
The Tech’s Athlete of the Week:Igor Kopylov ’09
For the second year in a row senior Igor Kopylov was the lone Division III recipient of the Georges L. Cointe Award, which is given to a fencer who excels in high-level competition with excellence in sportsmanship. He is MIT’s third consecutive winner of this award and fourth overall as Trevor T. Chang ’07 was honored during his senior campaign and Guy P. Pommares ’71 was chosen in 1970.
Kopylov finishes his career as a three-time New England Champion in sabre, becoming the third fencer at MIT to accomplish this feat. Alan Williams ’85 was a triple-winner in epee while Brian Bower ’99 duplicated this effort in sabre. Kopylov has been named to the Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) All-Star Team every season and he finished 20th at the NCAA Championship during his rookie campaign.
The Cointe Award was created in 1962 to honor the memory of the longtime coach of Cornell University’s team, Georges L. Cointe (1899-1961). The presentation of the trophy is made annually to the male and female fencer at the IFA Championships who best demonstrates the qualities of sportsmanship. The selection is made by the coaches of the member teams from among the fencers nominated by the competitors. The criteria include: superior fencing skills; well thought out and executed actions; showing a “will to win” through initiative, determination, drive, and aggressiveness; being courteous and gracious towards opponents and officials; knowing the rules and accepting officials’ decisions; and setting an example for others to follow.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff