Nov. 18, 2015
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame assistant fencing coach Cedric Loiseau has been promoted to associate head coach after three seasons on the Irish staff, head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia announced Wednesday.
“Cédric has an amazing way with young people, and young student-athletes,” Kvaratskhelia said. “He can relate to them on their own level, as he was an elite-level athlete. More importantly, he can relate to them with the level of maturity and empathy that they so desperately need at this time of their lives.”
Now in his fourth season since joining the Irish staff in 2012-13, Loiseau has overseen the development of the Irish épée squads, including three All-American performances by a pair of student athletes – Garrett McGrath (2014) and Ashley Severson (2014, 2015).
“In his time here, he has raised the level of our épée squads dramatically, and quickly,” Kvaratskhelia said. “He was an immediate, natural fit into the unique culture of Notre Dame. He knows that academics come first, and that integrity is essential. He’s a fantastic role model for our athletes.
“He’s been my right-hand man from day one. This promotion just makes it official.”
Prior to his time at Notre Dame, Loiseau coached épée at the national level in his home country of France, including seven podium finishes at the senior level in the two years immediately preceding his appointment with the Irish. At the French local level, he directed 22 individual gold medals at State League Championships with 17 team podium finishes over a seven-year span (2005-11).
A top-ranked fencer in his own right, Loiseau earned eight senior or cadet-junior event championships and was part of championship squads at the 2004 University France Championships and the 2002 European Junior Team Championships. In 2003, his team won silver at the France Championships and he is a two-time Junior World Cup bronze medal finisher.
Loiseau graduated from the University of Reims in 2004 with a degree in sports and exercise science and technology. He earned a masters degree certificate in the BEES program for fencing and has received several fencing training certificates. He now lives in Mishawaka with his wife, Marie, and sons Eliott and Oscar.
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To keep up with Irish fencing, visit UND.com/NDFencing, follow @NDFencing on Twitter and like Notre Dame Fencing on Facebook.
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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.