Nikki Franke, legendary Temple fencing coach, retires after 50 years

More than 50 years ago, Nikki Franke, then a 21-year-old public health graduate student and fencing teacher, started Temple University’s women’s fencing program, becoming the first Black woman to coach an NCAA Division I fencing team.

Since then, she has spent the last half-century guiding a program that won the NCAA championship in 1992 and is perennially ranked among the top 10.

Additionally, the pioneer has led the Owls to an impressive streak in the National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association championships: Her foil squads have won every championship since 1999.

On Monday night, Franke, the all-time winningest women’s coach at (898 wins) and longest-tenured coach in school history, informed her team that she was retiring after 50 seasons. She will be succeeded by Jennie Salmon, who competed for Franke and helped the Owls win that 1992 championship.

Temple will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to formally introduce Salmon, who coached the men’s and women’s fencing program at Brandeis University — and for Franke to offer parting words.

“I have truly been blessed to have had the opportunity to do something I deeply love for my entire adult life,’’ Franke said in a statement. “I have enjoyed every minute of my time at Temple coaching so many amazing young women. It has never felt like work, more a labor of love.”

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Franke was a four-time United States Fencing Coaches Association Women’s Fencing Coach of the Year recipient. She is in four Hall of Fames, including the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame and the International Sports Hall of Fame, and will be inducted into her fifth when she enters the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in November. In 1992, Franke cofounded the Black Women in Sport Foundation.

A member of the 1976 and 1980 U.S. Olympic teams, Franke was the United States Fencing Association’s (USFA) National Foil Champion in both 1975 and 1980.

“Dr. Franke is legendary and peerless,” said Temple University president Jason Wingard. “She is a Temple icon and represents excellence as a scholar, a former elite fencer, and the first Black woman to ever coach an NCAA fencing team. We are honored that she chose Temple, for half a century, to build and lead a best-in-class women’s athletic program.”

Salmon, set to be announced Tuesday, spent the last four years at Brandeis where she was named United States Fencing Coaches’ Association Division III Coach of the Year. Salmon was a two-time captain at Temple in the 1990s, as well as a two-time All-American.

“This is truly a dream come true, to return to my alma mater and succeed my former coach, mentor and great friend,” Salmon said in a release. “Nikki has been an inspiration to not only me but to the countless lives she has touched at Temple. She is the reason I went into coaching.”

“Temple will always be my home,” Franke said.