Teen Fencing Champion From Westchester Takes Talents Around The Globe

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Fencing is one of the fastest sports in the world -- and one of the oldest. You need speed and smarts.

As CBS2's Steve Overmyer reported, a high schooler from Westchester County has taken her love for fencing far and beyond the art of competitive combat.

Sylvie Binder is a 15-year-old national champion from Armonk. Since the age of 7, her life has been a story of thrusts and parries, a ballet of grace and precision.

At the Fencing Academy of Westchester, Sylvie is at home among the flashes of steel and the clashing of blades.

"It seems kind of cacophonous probably to you guys here, but it feels homey," she said. "I could probably take a nap. I could zone out. It's comforting to me.

"My life is going to be fencing. It is fencing. I love it. It's great."

The fact that Sylvie is a lefty sets her apart. But what makes her remarkable is her competitive spirit.

"She's a fighter," said Slava Grigoriev, a 1996 Olympian from Kazakhastan. " ... She hate to lose. ... When she's losing, her focus and her speed, her response to actions increases."

Sylvie travels the world competing in championship after championship -- Germany, Croatia, Hungary, Russia. At every stop, she gains culture.

"I don't necessarily live in the bubble that some people my age live in," she said. "I've seen different types of people, and I've been exposed to different lifestyles. ... I love seeing the different traditions and cultures."

No matter the continent, the globetrotter has found her place with a sliver of steel in her hand.

"I don't necessarily have an end goal right now because I don't see an end in 10 years, because it doesn't really end in 10 years," Sylvie said. "It ends in more like 20 or 30 years, I"m not really sure. Or never. I can fence until I'm 80."