![](https://paw.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/styles/portrait_feature/public/images/content/Prince_Adams3248ASVnew_0.jpg?itok=bnS5jEa3)
Photo: Jeffrey MacMillan p’14
BY THE SWORD: Jim Adams ’61 arrived at Princeton a nonathlete, but the fencing team was recruiting: no experience necessary. By senior year, Adams had an array of medals and All-American recognition. Afterward, Adams continued to fence competitively, then took a 13-year “sabbatical” to raise his children. In 1995, he joined a national seniors team and is back at it: He is the only American to be national champ in all three weapons — foil, epee, and saber — and he’s done it twice, in 2010 and 2019. “I have countless friends in the fencing world,” he says. “That is my greatest reward.”