Monica Aksamit’s path to winning a bronze medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio last month began at the $1.7 billion Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union.
The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based credit union named Aksamit PSFCU Rising Star during a homecoming celebration at the cooperative’s Linden, N.J. branch in August. The 26-year-old took home the bronze medal in the Women’s Saber Team event.
“You could say that I started to train for fencing because of the credit union,” Aksamit said. “My mother worked at the PSFCU and Janusz Mlynek, my first coach, was a customer here. They talked about fencing and that’s how it all started.”
PSFCU is a longtime supporter of the Polish-American Fencing School , which was founded by Mlynek who is considered among the top saber fencing coaches in the U.S.
Aksamit took her first fencing lesson at age 9.
“It was love at first sight, and my mom couldn’t keep me away from it,” she recalled.
At 18, Aksamit won team silver at the 2008 Junior World Championship, and one year later, she earned a team gold and an individual bronze medal at the Pan American Championship.
During her fencing career as a Penn State Nittany Lion, she won two NCAA Team Championships and was a runner-up NCAA Champion in 2012. A three-time All-American, Aksamit finished with a 68-14 collegiate record.
After her collegiate fencing career finished in 2012, Aksamit decided to commit her next four years to becoming a member of the 2016 Olympic Team, qualifying in March and later helping team USA take the team gold at the 2016 Pan American Championships in June.
As a PSFCU Rising Star, the Matawan, N.J. native was awarded $5,000 by the credit union. The Rising Star program was established last year to recognize young members of PSFCU for their extraordinary achievements in the fields of academics, sports, music, art, science, leadership or talent on the national and international levels.
“I’m so grateful for this award,” Aksamit said. “This money will help me prepare for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.”
In addition to training for the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2020, Aksamit is a fencing coach at St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, N.J.
