COACHES

Founder and Head Coach
Canadian National Team Coach
Former Coach of Team Israel and Ukraine
Paris 2024 Olympics Men's Epee CoachSince graduating from the Institute of Physical Education and Sports of the City of Kiev, Ukraine in 1979, he has led Fencers to championships in the Ukraine, Israel and Canada.
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Maitre Gantsevich currently dedicates the majority of his time and energy to elite High Performance Dynamo athletes. This dovetails nicely with his roles as the B.C. Provincial and Senior Canadian National Team Head Coach. Over the past decade, Maitre Gantsevich has quickly become a beacon for elite level coaching, having qualified nearly thirty (30) Dynamo athletes to Canada’s National Teams.

Canadian Fencing Federation - High Performance Director
2004 - 2012 Canadian National Team
2022 Vancouver World Cup Chairman
Paris 2024 Olympics Team Leader

In coach Igor's nearly decade long career as an elite athlete and Canadian National Team member from 2004 to 2012, Igor enjoyed success at the highest levels including a Bronze Medal at the 2011 PanAM Games and championships at Provincial, National, North American and PanAmerican Championships.

In 2012 Igor sustained a career ending wrist injury which, in hindsight, was a blessing in disguise. This turn of events allowed Igor to direct his energy and passion to his true calling: establish Canada as a world power in the sport of Fencing. Igor set out on this mission by focusing on grass roots Youth development and creating a base of Canadian Youth Fencing that will grow into Olympic caliber athletes.

Paris 2024 Olympics Women's Foil Coach
Coach of First Ever Canadian Olympic Medalist
Canadian Women's Foil Head Coach

Canadian Women’s Foil Head Coach, who has an outstanding coaching history in the USA with Empire United Fencing in New Jersey and Fencers Club in New York City. Under his guidance, athletes have achieved gold in Cadet, Junior, and Division 1 NACs, with many progressing to Ivy League universities. Since his return to Canada, Alex has led the national team to remarkable successes, including several top 10 World Rankings, six individual World Cup medals, and two individual Junior/Cadet World Championships.

Paris 2024 Olympics Bronze Medalist
Canadian National Team
3x Olympian

Eleanor, is a three-time Olympian. Canada's first Olympic medalist in fencing (Bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics). She boasts an impressive resume that includes 7 individual World Cup medals (including 2024 Tunis - Bronze and 2024 - Busan Silver, an NCAA individual championship, Division 1 NAC gold, and Pan American Championship gold medals in both individual and team events. She has also been ranked as high as #3 in the Senior FIE ranking.

Olympian and World Champion

1985, 1991 Bronze medalist of the World Championship
1988 Bronze medalist of the XXIV Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea
1986 Silver medalist of the world Championship
1987 World Champion
1985 Winner of the Summer Universiade
Five-times holder European Cup
Winner and finalist of World Cups

Sydney 2000 Olympics Bronze Medalist
Team Belgium Olympic Coach
Cuban National Team

A former athlete of Team Cuba, coach Nelson won a bronze medal in the team event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and became a world champion in 1997 in Cape Town. He also won 2 more bronze medals, one at the 1999 World Championships in Seoul, Korea and 1998 World Championships in Denver, USA.

Coach Nelson is also the father and coach of Neisser Loyola who recently finished Top 8 at the Paris 2024 Olympics, representing Belgium. Now making Canada his home, we are excited to have him join Dynamo family and look forward to the time ahead.

1992 - 2007 Canadian National Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
3 Selections as athlete to Fisu games
Top 8 result in Palma (ESP) 1999
13 times National Champion
9 Selections for Worlds
Many top 16 results in senior world cups
11 NAC medals (3 Gold)
4 times Québec Federation athlete of the year

COACHING
Charles has significant results as a coach whose students won many medals:
42 medals at Nationals (16 Gold);
6 individual Pan-Am (1 Gold);
4 Senior World Cup medals;
1 Bronze medal at Cadet World championship.

Ukrainian National Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
3 times Junior World Champion
( 1997 and 2 times 1998 ), 1999 and 2006
European silver medalist, 2001 European bronze medalist in Modern Pentathlon
1998 Champion of Youth Ukrainian Games
1999 and 2003 Champion of Ukrainian Games in Modern Pentathlon​

COACHING
Bronze medal in World Championship 2011
Silver in cadet World championship 2011
"Learn from mistakes for future victories."

Team Canada Project Coach

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
Team Canada Project Coach
Cadet and Junior National Team coach at 2022 World Championship in Dubai
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COACHING
Bratislava, Cadet Circuit, 2023 Team - Bronze medal
Nadia Hayes - 5th at the 2023 Cadet World Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and Gold medal at Junior NAC 2022
Bowen Xu - Bronze medal at Y14 NAC 2022
Adrian Wong - Top 8 at the Y14 NAC 2022
Adam Wong -National Championship 2021: Senior gold medalist
Hayes Nadia - Canada Cup 2022: Cadet gold medalist
Lucas Sings - Gold medal at Commonwealth
Championship

2001 - 2010 Cuban National Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
Top 32 World Cup - Havana 2004
Top32 and 6 place team FISU GAMES
2018 Canadian National Champion Team
2017 Canadian Senior Men’s Epee National Bronze Medalist
2016 to 2019 – Epee Coach at Estoc Fencing Club (Quebec City, Canada)
2010 to 2016 – Epee Coach in Provincial Cuban Team
2005 FISU Games Athlete

COACHING
Erik plans to continue hard as a coach with his students to guarantee generational replacement.
"My dream is to get an athlete to the Olympic games."

2010 - 2016 Russian National Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS:
Russian national team 2010-2016
2014-2016 Russian national team (adults) 
16-time winner and medalist of the Russian Championships in individual and team competitions
European Championship Athens (Greece) 2010 – bronze, gold (team)
World Championship Baku (Azerbaijan) 2010 – top 32
European Championship Klagenfurt (Austria) – Silver, Gold (team) 
World Championship Jordan 2011 - Bronze (individual)
European Championship Porec (Croatia) 2012 – finalist, silver (team)
World Championship Moscow (Russia) 2012 – top 32, silver (team)
European Championship Jerusalem (Israel) 2014 – top 16, bronze (team)
European Championship Tbilisi (Georgia) 2014 – Gold (individual), Gold (team)
Participant of many World Cup stages 

COACHING:
2017-2019 Sports school of Olympic reserve No. 10 in Yaroslavl
Working with children from 7 to 17 years old. 
In less than 2 years of my work, the Yaroslavl team became the silver medalist of the Russian Cadet Championship.  
The children became multiple prize-winners and winners of qualifying tournaments for the Russian national team. 
2 boys made it to the top 16 at the tournament in Cabris (France) 2018 and in Bratislava (Slovakia). 
In the 2018-2019 season, he conducted training camps for the Russian National Team for cadets who became European and World champions.
2020 to present - coach at the Dynamo fencing club in Richmond
Trained champions and prize-winners of the North American Cup in different age categories.
Bronze medalist of the World Cadet Championship.
Student Boys Budovskyi, November NAC champion and March NAC finalist. Canadian champion
Bessie BU and Edison Li Canadian champions. Edison is SYC winner.
Lian Zhang finalist of Canadian Championship and medalist of SYC
Kinton YU is silver medalist of Canadian Championship

2020 Tokyo Paralympics Wheelchair Fencing Team Manager

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
Coach Lynn was appointed by Canadian Fencing Federation as Epee Weapon Leader. She has over
30 years of experience and is renowned in Canada and worldwide for her achievements:
2020 Tokyo Paralympics – Wheelchair Fencing, Team Manager
2005 Maître D’Armes – Fencing, in all three weapons
1983 Women’s World Champion – Modern Pentathlon
1983 – Canadian Female Athlete of the Year (Velma Springstead Trophy)

Turkish National Men's Epee Cadet Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
Former Turkish National Mens Epee Cadet Team.
Evrim brings a deep passion for fencing and is committed to sharing his love for the sport with future generations of young athletes. His dedication to fencing inspires and shapes the next wave of fencers.

Estonian National Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
European Championship U23 2023
European Championship U23 2022 TEAM
4x Estonian Champion
Nordic Champion

2005 - 2015 Romanian National Team

Known for his skill and strategic approach, Riki has made a significant impact on the fencing community. With a passion for excellence, he continues to train at Dynamo Fencing, inspiring fellow athletes with his determination and focus.

2008 - 2023 Iranian National Team

Asian championship - 5 Bronze
European cup - 3 Gold,1 Silver, 2 Bronze
University games - Gold, Silver, Bronze
2021 Islamic Solidarity Games - Silver

2003 - 2013 Bulgarian National Team

Fencing Coach at Dynamo Fencing Club - Canada
Competition Development Certified from the Canadian Coaching Association
Motivator

Mexican National Team
Turkish National Team
Uzbekistan National Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENT
2000 - 2011 Athlete Mexican National Team
2009 - Athlete Class A rating in USA
2013 - 2019 Coach Mexican National Team
2021 - 2023 Coach Uzbekistan National Team
2023 - 2024 Coach Turkish National Team
2024 - Dynamo Fencing


COACHING
​Former Coach of Mexican, Uzbek and Turkish National Team
2022 UZB Jr Men & Woman Foil Individual & TEAM TOP 3 ASIAN Championship
2023 UZB Jr Men & Woman Foil Individual & TEAM TOP 3 ASIAN Championship
2023 UZB Jr Men Foil TEAM TOP 5 WORLD Championship Plovdiv BUL

2012 - 2018 Turkish National Team

TOP ACHIEVEMENT

Former Turkish National Fencer (Foil)
5 Turkish Championship titles
2013 2nd place in the European Cadet Circuit, Florina
2016 1st place Balkan Champion (Individual), Bulgaria
2016 2nd place Balkan Champion (Team), Bulgaria
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2015 - 2024 Israel National Team

Stas Galper is a distinguished Israeli épée fencer who has been a key member of the Israeli National Team from 2015 to 2024. Throughout his career, he has achieved notable success, including a gold medal at the 2016 European Championships in Novi Sad.

In addition to his competitive achievements, Stas is dedicated to sharing his passion for fencing with others. He serves as a coach at Dynamo Fencing, where he imparts his expertise and enthusiasm to the next generation of fencers.

2002 - 2013 Canadian National Team

Coach Tigran first started fencing at the community centre in Burnaby where he met Maitre Victor Gantsevich and was inspired by him to dream big. This led him to a decade long career as a high performance athlete. “Victor ignited my passion for the sport”, says coach Tigran, who went on to compete at two Pan Am Games and many international events around the world.

Tigran graduated from UBC and McGill University and has had a successful career as a health and safety professional but felt something was missing in his life.

Coach Tigran has returned to fencing to coach and mentor young minds.

Italian National Team

A third-generation fencing coach, Yegor has an impressive competitive and coaching background. He achieved top rankings in numerous competitions, including reaching the Top 8 at the Italian Nationals, and participated in prestigious international events such as the Budapest U20, Legnano U20, Klagenfurt U17, and Lugano U23 tournaments.
Certified as a Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 Maestro by national standards, Yegor honed his coaching skills at Virtus Scherma Bologna, one of Italy's most renowned fencing clubs. At Virtus, he successfully expanded the epee program, launching new groups, and promoting fencing through school outreach. He also created high-performance U14, U17, U20, and U23 teams and established Paralympic fencing groups, demonstrating his commitment to inclusivity and excellence in the sport.

2006 - 2014 Chinese National Second-Level Athlete

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS
2006-2014 Team of Shanghai Yangpu
2012 2nd Place in Shanghai Cadet Championship (Team）
2008 1st Place Shanghai Cadet Championship (Team）