[2] In 2017, the Queens Newsletter reported that former Olympic bronze medalist Peter Westbrook "remembered a much different McDowald, a young and smug one, when he began fencing.

In March 2019 McDowald won a bronze medal at a Buenos Aires Fencing World Cup in Argentina.

[12][13] Because of his actions, the entire U.S. men's épée team was completely disqualified, preventing it from competing in the bronze-medal match, and was not given a finishing position at the tournament.

[12][15] In the fall of 2023, McDowald competed at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, as a member of the U.S. men's épée team that won the gold medal.

[16] Subsequently, on November 3, 2023, McDowald was temporarily suspended by USA Fencing due to allegations that he had engaged in misconduct in an unrelated incident.

[16][14] He was prohibited from being present at any USA Fencing sanctioned event, club, meeting, facility, education session, or otherwise.