Daniel Iliffe fencing. Photo: Fencing Sport Photography, Ed Chiu.
At the age of 14 Daniel Iliffe represented Australia in the 2022 Commonwealth Fencing Championships, returning with three bronze medals. He placed third in each of the cadet, junior and senior categories. That the very talented fencer could get there was completely due to the backing of Bermagui.
Four years on, the Far South Coast fishing village continues to back him as the 18-year-old heads to Penn State University. It is only by competing overseas that he can accumulate the points needed to be considered to represent Australia at the Olympics.
His recruitment to the prestigious university’s fencing team is again thanks to Bermagui.
His mother first brought him to Bermagui when he was six weeks old. His grandmother Jane Sandilands has been living in Bermagui since well before he was born. He ended up growing up between Sydney and Bermagui – his second home where almost everyone knows him, thanks to his grandmother’s network of friends.
Mr Iliffe started fencing when he was 10 after his Year 5 teacher encouraged him to try it. Three days later he joined the local community sabre fencing club that was providing the fencing sessions at his school.
Within three years he was representing Australia on the world stage. He competed in Dubai when he was 13, in Uzbekistan and London when he was 14, in Riyadh when he was 16 and Wuxi, China, aged 17.
Last year he was the first athlete since the Australian Fencing Federation began in 1949 to win the Cadets (under 17), Junior (under 20) and Open national titles in the one season. He won the national championship again this year.
His successes in Australia are not ranked by the international fencing body, FIE.
Daniel Iliffe has represented Australia on the world stage. Photo: William Dunn Photography.
Fencing is largely an unfunded sport in Australia. While his family could get him to the Dubai and Uzbekistan competitions, London was beyond them.
Aged 14, Mr Iliffe created a fundraising campaign through the Australian Sports Foundation to get to the Commonwealth Fencing Championships.
“We didn’t raise much in the city, but in Bermagui they all backed me,” he said. “I came back with my first three international medals, and Bermagui hasn’t stopped backing me since.”
He now has seven gold, silver and bronze international medals.
Getting “seen” in fencing and eventually gaining Olympic qualification is done in stages. He must accumulate International Fencing Federation world ranking points through international competition and win the Asia-Oceania Zonal Championship across 54 countries for the region’s single qualifying spot for the sabre, plus gain recognition on sportsmanship grounds. The sport is dominated by the Northern Hemisphere, and he must go overseas to train and compete.
Another opening in his quest to compete in the Olympics came last year when he was invited to attend Italy’s Christian Bauer and Aldo Montano Academy in Padua.
“We could find the airfares, but not accommodation,” Mr Iliffe said. “We asked around and Francesca [Michielin] of the Bermagui Gelati Clinic was still in contact with a professor. She made it possible for me to stay with an Italian family.”
That saw the 17-year-old come second in the European Circuit Championships.
Francesca Michielin of the Bermagui Gelati Clinic and Daniel Iliffe. Photo: Supplied.
It was what he needed to be recognised by some American universities. America is one of the first countries to embrace fencing through colleges.
Last December he was recruited by Penn State University in Pennsylvania to join its highly regarded fencing team. It means he can combine his studies in political science and English, train and compete with the university team, take part in regular tournaments ranked by the FIE and represent Australia.
“Francesca really helped me on the path I am on now,” Mr Iliffe said.
The university scholarship covers his books and fencing uniform and equipment, but not the US$72,000 for his tuition and accommodation on campus.
That is the next fundraising challenge.
So far family and close friends have raised $25,000. He received a scholarship from Sydney Boys High School Old Boys Union. In 2024 and 2025, he had led the high school’s fencing team to two undefeated seasons, becoming national champions.
He is also part of the Aussie Athlete $1 million Challenge where 100 athletes each try to raise $10,000 to learn how to build partnerships for the long term.
Mr Iliffe flies to the US in August to start university and is taking a “semester by semester” approach to the fundraising.
“I couldn’t have got here alone. The people in Bermagui played a really big part,” he said. “Bermagui is the place I will miss most when I’m in the US.”
