MAITRE VICTOR GANTSEVICH

Since 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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He 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.

IGOR GANTSEVICH

In his 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. The culmination of his dedication and hard work came in 2008 when he played a critical role in securing Canada a Medal at a World Cup event (International Grand Prix), the first of its kind in Canadian history.

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Igor is currently the president of Dynamo Fencing Club and the Head Coach of the West Vancouver Premier Fencing Academy. Over the past ten (10) years, Igor has introduced over 50,000 Youth to the sport of fencing across the lower mainland of British Columbia.

ERIC BOISSE

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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2004 Olympic Gold Medalist in Athens;

2000, 2005, 2006, 2007 - 4 times World Champion

#1 World Ranking in Senior Men’s Epee in 2007

Winner of 4 FIE Grand Prix in individual and 12 by team 

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COACHING

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"I believe Fencing is a Chess sport and a Champion must be able to overcome any situation with the mind first that is why my coaching is half mental half physical. "if you use your brain, everybody can beat anybody".

CHARLES ST-HILAIRE

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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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 

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COACHING

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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.

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HRISTO ETROPOLSKI

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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In 2013 he was honored by the FIE (International Fencing Federation) and included in the international fencing Hall of Fame.

2014 Hristo's proteges ranked No. 3 in the U.S. women’s sabre rankings; No. 7 in the world women's saber ranking and No. 5th in the world junior women saber ranking.

2014 one of his students was included in U.S. Olympic Team.

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COACHING

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I believe a successful athlete is equally concerned with their physical skills as with their mental capacity. An intense workout will develop a capable body, able to execute every intended move. Even more important is the ability to remain calm under pressure, keen observation skills that will show your opponent's weakness and a smart game plan. No one wins a bout with strength and endurance alone.

VITALIY BUDOVSKYI

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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3 times Junior World Champion

( 1997 and 2 times 1998 ), 1999 and 2006

European silver medalist, 2001 European bronze medalist in Modern Pentathlon

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1998 Champion of Youth Ukrainian Games

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1999 and 2003 Champion of Ukrainian Games in Modern Pentathlon

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COACHING

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Bronze medal in World Championship 2011

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Silver in cadet World championship 2011

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"Learn from mistakes for future victories."

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SIMON STAVISSKY

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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Finalists of the European cups in Italy (Rome) and Czech Republic ( Brno)

Numerous gold medalist of the CFL

( China Fencing League)

Silver medal in Russian Championship in team 

Winner of all-Russian junior Championship 

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COACHING

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Adam Wong : Second place, Senior event 2020 Canada Cup; Third place, Cadet team European Circuit, Bratislava; 18th place, Individual European Circuit, Bratislava 2020

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Lucas Sing: First place, Commonwealth Championship

Numerous medals thru out the years from 2018 at SYC, NAC and National tournaments from Y10 to Cadet

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In my opinion ,fencing is one of the smartest sports in the world. My personal coaching method is based on a Russian fencing school. My motto: train hard,

fight easy.

ERIK MEDINA DIAZ

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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Top 32 World Cup - Havana 2004

Top32 and 6 place team FISU GAMES

2001 to 2010 Cuban National Team Men’s Epee

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

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COACHING

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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."

ZBIGNIEW PIETRUSINSKI

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

Numerous medals (Gold to Bronze) thru out the years from Canadian Nationals from Junior to Senior; Winner - Canadian Fencing Federation Male Cadet Athlete of the Year 2016; Numerous Championships from Pan American. Zbigniew continues to fence for Canada as Veteran: 2008 World Fencing Championship in Limoges, France-7th place in sabre, 2018 World Fencing Championship in Livorno, Italy-9th place in sabre. 

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TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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As a fencing coach I would like to promote sport of fencing in BC in order to develop in young students self-discipline, improve their physical and mental challenges  while building their confidence, social skills and academic future.

LUIS PATTERSON

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

2019 Gold Medal (Team) - Pan American

Championship, Toronto, Canada

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2019 Gold Medal (Team) - Pan American Games,

Lima Peru

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2012-2019 Cuba National Team Member

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2016 Bronze Medal Junior - Pan American

Championship, Mexico

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2016 Silver Medal (Team) - Central American

Championship, Panama

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2016 Silver Medal - Central American

Championship, Panama

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2015 Gold Medal - Junior World Cup, El Salvador

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COACHING

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2010-2013 Assistant Coach ESFAAR

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ILIYA DEGTYAREV

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

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Ilya has built an impressive career as a fencer over the last decade.

Being on Russian National Team (2014-2016), Top 16 (individual), 3rd place (team) at European Championship Jerusalem (Israel, 2014) as well as obtaining 1st place (individual), 1st place (team) at European Championship U-23 Tbilisi (Georgia, 2014) allowed him to become a great mentor and a successful coach.