I have never really sat down and followed the sport of fencing, but I will acknowledge it as a sport. It is very technical and requires a lot of skill, and there are offensive and defensive moves, so in my book, it qualifies as a sport.
I enjoyed the competitive nature of fencing while in university and I still incorporate it into wushu jian (straight sword) or saber (dao). I did mainly foil but I learned more about myself and how I interact with others than in any other sport.
This is the one time a woman actually beat me in a sport and she was excellent.
Her father was a Hungarian champion in the 1950's and she never mised a trick and believe me, I tried them all! Well, most of the time.