From pool to piste: Former national swimmer Teo Zhen Ren drives sport’s revival with World Fencing League

SINGAPORE – As a former swimmer who has flown Singapore’s flag at the SEA and Asian Games, Teo Zhen Ren knows first-hand there are some sports that come into the spotlight only during those multi-sport events.

Even one of the world’s oldest Olympic sports, fencing, has found itself in such a predicament.

Now 31, with his swimming days behind him, Teo is spearheading a new challenge.

As the co-founder and chief executive of the World Fencing League (WFL), a bold new professional competition backed by Europe-based sports investment firm Chiron Sports Group, he aims to thrust fencing into the mainstream and, in turn, swell competitors’ earnings and engage the fans.

The 31-year-old, together with founder Miles Chamley-Watson, a three-time Olympic fencer from the United States, is hoping the professional league will allow athletes to make a living from the sport and inspire children to become full-time fencers.

Teo, a multiple SEA Games gold medallist in 2011 and 2015 who previously held the men’s 800m and 1,500m freestyle national records, said: “A lot of these Olympic sports are really only on the map once every four years, where you get to show you are on top of your game.

“We are lucky to be from Singapore where we compete at the Asian Games, SEA Games, and the Commonwealth Games.

“I understand that perspective, where I can be in a sport and fully dedicate my life to it but, at the same time, not many people actually know about it.”

Teo, who is based in London but travels to the United States frequently, added: “If you look at fencing, it has all the ingredients. It is essentially a combat sport itself. There’s speed, there’s tension.

“You have not just a deep sense of history, but you (also) have individual characters, that could potentially become superstars.

“I just feel like the audience can immediately connect with it, as long as it’s being produced and portrayed in the right way.”

It was during his internship at Chiron, while pursuing a Master of Business Administration course at the London Business School, that Teo connected with Chamley-Watson.

At the virtual meeting in March 2025 also involving Chiron chief executive Leo Rifkind, Chamley-Watson pitched the idea of wanting to start a professional league for fencing.

Since then, Teo said things have “moved at a speed unlike anything else”.

Tasked to turn the league’s vision into reality, the WFL chief executive’s responsibilities include overseeing team recruitment, managing external vendors, engaging with athletes and negotiating with contractors.

The league has turned to technology to better enhance the audience experience by partnering with a Japanese company to develop a cutting-edge blade-tracking system that turns lightning-fast sword work into real-time visuals.

The technology transforms fencing’s ultra-fast actions into real-time visuals that broadcasters can overlay on screen, turning what often looks like frantic sword waving into comprehensible combat.

Rules are also altered in the WFL to make for more entertaining viewing.

While traditional bouts usually see fencers fight until someone reaches 15 points or until time runs out, matches in the WFL are time-capped, with no target score.

Fencers fight for the duration of a ticking clock (one minute for sabre, two minutes for foil, three minutes for epee). When the clock hits zero, the person with the most touches wins.

The league made its debut on April 25 with a prize fund of US$100,000 (S$127,260) in a one-day showcase that featured 12 elite athletes.

They included American three-time Olympic gold medallist Lee Kiefer, Hong Kong’s world champion Ryan Choi and Oh Sang-uk, a three-gold Olympic champion from South Korea, competing in mixed-gender teams.

The event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles drew a sold-out crowd of more than 1,200. It generated buzz for a fencing event like no other, with music specially produced by Grammy-winning artist Swiss Beatz and Formula One icon Lewis Hamilton among the celebrity spectators.

Streaming partner DAZN also carried the event live with free global coverage, and in a sign of the league’s ambitions, the WFL said its international media network now spans more than 150 countries across six continents.

Teo said that the plan is to hold a second event in the fourth quarter of 2026, which will be staged around gaps in the existing International Fencing Federation (FIE) calendar to avoid conflicts.

The league has also been working to win over the sport’s governing bodies.

A memorandum of understanding with the US Fencing Federation has been signed, and discussions with the FIE are ongoing.

Teo said that the ultimate mission is to give fencers a professional pathway that does not hinge on a four-year Olympic cycle.

“We want future fencers to look at this and see a real career. To thrive and make a living, like footballers and F1 stars do,” he said.

Closer to home, Teo has been in early conversations with Fencing Singapore on potential collaboration, with an eye on bringing a WFL event here in future.

While those plans are still taking shape, what Teo brings to the role – and the endeavour – is distinctly Singaporean.

“I don’t take the Singaporean mindset for granted,” he said.

“Singapore is a small country but I think most Singaporeans understand what it means to compete globally.

“We are small but mighty, and that’s the mindset that I take on in shaping how I think about building the WFL; to be ambitious, be disciplined and not to be afraid, to take on this global challenge.”