Sport: Fencing
Born: February 18, 1990
Town: Matawan, New Jersey
Monica Aksamit was born February 18, 1990 in New York City and grew up in Matawan, NJ after her parents were divorced. She also lived with her grandparents in Poland. Monica began fencing at the age of 9 at the Polish American Fencing School in Linden. Tall for her age, she enjoyed immediate success. While watching fencing at the 2004 Olympics, Monica began to think she could compete for a medal some day. As a teenager, she continued her fencing in New York City, at the Manhattan Fencing Center on 37th Street.
After graduating from Matawan Regional High, Monica attended Penn State on a fencing scholarship. She led the team to a pair of NCAA championships and was runner-up as NCAA champ as a senior in 2012. As a member of USA Fencing, she won team silver at the 2008 Junior World Championship and team gold a year later at the 2009 Pan American Fencing Championship, taking home individual bronze, as well. Monica was 68–14 during her varsity career and earned All-America recognition in 2009 and 2011.
In 2015, with the Olympics approaching, Monica suffered through a slump and her national ranking dropped to #11. With only four spots open on Team USA, she bore down, re-ascended the ladder and won back her spot. In 2016, Monica won team gold again at the Pan American Championships and team bronze in the saber team event at the Olympics. Among her teammates in Rio was fellow New Jerseyan Ibti Muhammad. In 2019, Monica was a member of the gold medal-winning US team at the Pan American Games.
Monica is the fencing coach at St. John Vianney in Holmdel. In 2022, she signed with the Ford Modeling Agency.