McDOWALD Curtis

General
EARLY DAYS
His first fencing match at age 12 was against a boy who was much older and taller. "He scored the first point and one of the instructors, who is a St. John's alumnus, Adam Rodney, comes up to me and tells me a couple of instructions, like take a parry pose. So I did exactly what he said and I scored. Another St. John's alumnus, Ben Bratton, also gave me some instructions. He said, 'Just make a straight attack on him'. I did exactly that and I won the match. It was my first ever match. It was at that moment they were like, 'He gets it'. I remember it so well because it was the first time I met all these faces, first time they directly spoke to me, and now [in 2017] these are some of the closest people in my life. It's a moment I can't ever forget." (timesledger.com, 15 Oct 2017)

PETER WESTBROOK FOUNDATION
He has worked as a volunteer coach at the Peter Westbrook Foundation in Manhattan, NY, United States of America. "I feel a responsibility that I need to go because if it wasn't for the four other gentlemen [from the Foundation] that said, 'Hey I think you have a shot of doing this', and selecting me to train with them, I wouldn't be here." Westbrook himself said he has seen McDowald mature from the fencer he was in his youth. "Now, he [McDowald] has become humble. He works with the kids and his greatness is really coming out. One day, Curtis is going to make that Olympic team. Before, he couldn't because his pride and ego got in the way. We smacked that out of him, and now I'm so proud and impressed with him." (timesledger.com, 15 Oct 2017)