“Let’s go, Juka!” Meir Mizrahi said from the sidelines, cheering on his son at a local fencing tournament. Juka, the Hebrew word for “bug,” is a nickname that his son, junior Michael Mizrahi, has been called since he was three years old.

     “I got that nickname because I always used to climb stuff, and it just kinda fit well. It shows my Israeli heritage,” Michael said. “Still don’t have [a nickname] for my mustache, though.”

     Fit it did. From then on, he never stopped climbing. First, the trees of his childhood home in western Massachusetts. Now, the ranks of the international fencing community. He was recently asked to compete for the Israeli National Fencing Team. To accomplish this goal, he decided he had to give up the sport he had participated in his whole life: swimming. 

    Michael used to swim every day, 12 hours a week, until last December, when he chose to leave it to pour more and more time into fencing.

     “Once I stopped swimming, I could really focus and get better,” he said. “I went from a U rating, which is unranked, to a B after performing well at a national competition.” 

     With his new rating, he went from someone no one knew to a fierce competitor in the fencing world. Michael’s confidence catapulted. He began the college recruiting process and practiced more than ever. 

     “Michael is my most coachable fencer; whatever I tell him to do, he does it,” Michael’s head club coach Enrique Claro-Nunez said. “He’s always the first one in the door and the last one to leave.” 

     This commitment to the sport he loves is in part the reason why Michael wanted to compete for Israel. Although an American citizen now, Michael was born in Israel, which is why he can compete for the nation. Fencing has been his opportunity to get in touch with his roots.  

     “They asked me to be on the team, and I felt nothing but a sense of pride,” Michael said. “When I compete in matches, everyone has the same jacket, but I have the Star of David on mine, and that just makes me proud to represent my people.”

     As a part of the national team, Michael has committed to practicing six days a week at his club in Tampa and competing around the world.

     “I am going to be competing everywhere, from Austria to Hungary to Costa Rica,” Michael said. “I’ll be flying a lot and missing school a lot, so it’s hard.” 

     Although traveling is a huge time commitment and representing an entire nation comes with its fair share of pressure, he isn’t going through it alone. Anna Walter, a senior at Plant High School in Tampa and  a nationally ranked fencer, has been dating Michael for the past three years. 

     “Anna really is just the person I can go in early with and stay late with, and she really helps me to be the best fencer I can be,” Michael said. 

     The two met at their fencing club and have been inseparable ever since. They commute to and from practices and love spending time together outside of fencing. Their trust in each other can be attributed to their longtime bond.  

     “My favorite thing about Michael is just the fact that he knows how to coach me to the point where it doesn’t stress me out. He’s just always there and says the right thing,” Walter said. “Our techniques have grown so similar that he just knows me so well.”

     The duo’s combined results have led to points in the national rankings attributed to their club, which has led to it being ranked 51st in the United States. 

     “They build off each other,” Claro-Nunez said, “always improving together.” 

     Walter plans on committing this year to fence in college, and Michael is just beginning the recruitment process. “We’ll always be there to support one another wherever we go,” both said.

     Although the recruitment process is exciting, it also takes a lot of commitment from Michael’s loved ones. Meir has been a constant throughout this time, accompanying him to all his events and cheering him on. 

     Mier expressed pride in all the effort Michael’s putting into his sport, “Everyone at work must be sick of hearing about [his] accomplishments.”