FENCING COACH • 1941-72

Maxwell Garret earned a spot in the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame after building an incredible record as one of the nation’s top fencing coaches and as one of the leading internationally ranked fencing officials. More commonly known as “Mac,” he became the head fencing coach at Illinois in 1940 while working on his Master of Science degree before his career was interrupted by World War II. During his four years in the U.S. Army Air Force, Mac served as Special Service and Information Office, putting together a variety show that sold $1.5 million in war bonds. During his 28 years as head fencing coach at Illinois, the Illini won 17 Big Ten championships, two NCAA championships and only once ranked lower than second place in the Big Ten. Garret compiled an all-time record of 245-71-1 at Illinois, while coaching 28 All-Americans. He was inducted into the Helms Hall of Fame for Fencing in 1956 and the City College of New York Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974. As the UI developed a nationally recognized wheelchair sports program, Mac developed the first U.S. fencing program for students with disabilities and coached the first U.S. wheelchair fencing team that brought home medals from the Paralympics. In 1969, he took a year’s leave of absence from the UI to serve as the Director of the Academy for Fencing Teachers in Israel and as National Coach of the State of Israel. Following the 1972 season, Garret moved to Penn State as head coach, leading the Nittany Lions to six conference championships and third place at the NCAA Championships in 1979. After retiring as a coach in 1982, Mac went on to serve as an internationally ranked fencing official and was very involved in helping coordinate fencing competition at the 1996 Olympics and Paralympics. Garret died in 2013 at the age of 95.