So much so that she set a bold goal: to compete someday in an international event.
That was 13 years ago. Today, Eyre, 56, of Swedesboro, Gloucester County, is the best female fencer over 50 in the United States and one of the best in the world.
Over the last decade, she has won 22 gold medals in United States Fencing Association national tournaments. She has been ranked No. 1 in the United States in veteran women's sabre fencing, her forte, for the last five years. In every national event in which she has competed in the last three years, she has captured gold.
Internationally in her class, competing against a field of 25 to 30 elite athletes, she won gold in 2005 at the World Veteran Fencing Championship of the Federation Internationale d'Escrime; in 2006 and 2008, she won bronze medals.
Later this month, she will depart for Croatia to vie again for the world title.
"Losing is not the end of the world," Eyre says, "but once you've won, nothing else feels as good."
Foremost among her admirers is her son, Josh Tartaglione, 31, a medical student in New York City.
"When I was growing up, she always told me I could do whatever I put my mind to. She taught me to believe in myself and my ability," he says. "She's a wonderful example."
Of the three fencing disciplines - foil, épée, and sabre - sabre is the fastest and most athletic, Eyre says. The sabre is a cutting weapon once used by the cavalry, and sabre fencers can score points by touching any part of the body above the waist, including the head and arms.
Sabre bouts are fought in short, intense bursts. It's akin to boxing, and just as demanding - "a lot harder than it looks," Eyre says. More visceral than cerebral, sabre fencing is ideal for athletes with abundant fast-twitch muscle and a penchant for instinctive action.
