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1977 – present
The accounting: Notre Dame's fencing program is, with Columbia, the most successful in the NCAA record: sixteen national championships. The count reconciles exactly. Men's titles: 1977, 1978, 1986. Women's title: 1987. In the combined-championship era the Irish won ten: 1994, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025 — fourteen in all through 2025.
The 2026 double: In 2026 the NCAA returned to separate men's and women's championships, and Notre Dame won both, at home in the Joyce Center — the fifteenth and sixteenth titles in the program's record, drawing the Irish level with Columbia at sixteen in the NCAA's own listing of most fencing titles.
The coach: Gia Kvaratskhelia, head coach since 2014, has led eight of the championship teams: the combined titles of 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025, and both titles of 2026.
Sources:
- NCAA fencing record — the championship years by division; the most-titles listing: Columbia 16, Notre Dame 16.
- FightingIrish.com, May 7, 2026 — sixteen national titles in program history; Kvaratskhelia's eight.
- Atlantic Coast Conference and ThinkND program histories — fourteen titles through 2025.