Our Background

1998

The Dynamo Name and Paperwork

Dynamo Fencing proudly celebrates 28 years of history rooted in passion, perseverance, and community. The club was officially founded in 1998 in a park at the University of British Columbia by Maître Victor Gantsevich who remains its Head Coach to this day, and a small group of dedicated fencers, many of whom are still part of the Dynamo family: Devin Manky, Farooq Habib, and Carolyn Granholm. What began as informal practices with a handful of athletes, quickly took on a life of its own when that group returned with completed paperwork and a name that, despite early skepticism, would become iconic: Dynamo /din-uh-moh/. 

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“I think I was there probably with a tennis racket and some tennis balls and I was like bouncing, playing around. And that group of eight, nine fencers came back to my dad and said we've filed the paperwork and now we've named the club Dynamo.” Igor Gantsevich, now the Club’s President and Fencing Canada’s High-Performance Director – recalls the moment when it all became official. The name was chosen to preserve the legacy of the club’s Ukrainian roots, though it was not 10-year-old Igor’s first choice. His vote was firmly cast for the “Did Moroz Fencing Club”, invoking the Soviet version of Santa Claus.   

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The early years were humble. Training first took place outdoors, then in a small rowing centre near UBC Hospital with just two fencing strips. Practices were limited to a few evenings a week, and the club functioned less like a formal institution and more like an extended family. Yet even then, something special was happening – and the club’s first two Canadian national team members – Peter Galkaev and Yuriy Rubin – began the tradition that Yuriy’s son Daniel (now also the Cadet and Junior national team member) proudly upholds. Those formative years forged the culture that still defines Dynamo today: tough, competitive, supportive, and deeply connected.

The Early 2000s

The Sea Island Elementary Years 

When the world’s best fencers gather in Vancouver for the annual Senior World Cup event, few of them know that the club’s early success was forged in the very first building they see when they leave the Vancouver International Airport. The tiny Sea Island elementary became the club’s first long-term home, where the now 25-member club met four times a week. The concrete linoleum-covered gym floor was tough on their knees and resembled a slip-and-slide more than a fencing piste. But the “first-and-a-half” generation of Dynamo fencers (and coach Igor’s competitive contemporaries) had a regular home. The Sea Island generation drove across Canada and packed eight people per hotel room to save what little money they had. Staying humble, hard-working and responsible came naturally, as members saw the work ethic of their coach Victor – who ran practices after ten-hour shifts in manufacturing facilities, and often before spending the evening repairing what little equipment the club had.

The Sea Island generation produced the club’s first Olympian – the Pentathlete Monica Pinette and the first Senior Fencing National Team member (and now an occasional visiting coach) Tigran Bajgoric. Canada’s current National Team leader Dylan French also took his first fencing steps at Sea Island. The school’s walls also bore witness to the defining moment that made the rest of the Club’s history possible. On a bright spring evening before a practice, Victor’s late wife Marina sat down that day’s attendees and held a stern but loving conversation, explaining to them that for the club to continue – they needed to show the kind of commitment that her husband and their coach was showing to them. That evening laid the groundwork for the club’s professionalization and the growth that has made it what it is today. Several months later, the members also caught a glimpse of what was possible, when their tiny facility was visited by the entire Ukrainian senior national fencing team – in town for the World Cup event. Fencing alongside their idols (and now world class coaches) Oleksandr Gorbatchuk, Bogdan Nikishyn and Maksym Khvorost, in their own fencing home, made both students and the coach recognize what was possible.      

2007

The Club’s First Permanent Home 

In 2007, Dynamo experienced its first major turning point. The family behind the club took a leap of faith, personally and financially, to secure a small 3,800-square-foot facility in a Richmond industrial park. This was not backed by investors or safety nets. Maitre Victor took on personal loans, putting his own future on the line to create a permanent home for fencing. It was a defining moment built on sacrifice, trust, and belief in a dream that many doubted. That same year marked the beginning of a new generation of leadership, as the club began transitioning from a small family-run space into a true training home for developing athletes. While the facility that sat across from a seafood processing plant was humble, the seven-piste space that did not need to be set up or taken down on a nightly basis was true luxury for the club’s members. What made it even more special is that many of the members spent their free time painting, tiling, scrubbing and slowly turning a former metalwork shop into a fencing club.   

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As competitive success grew, so did Dynamo’s presence on the national and international stage. Club athletes and coaches contributed to historic milestones for Canadian fencing, including Canada’s first-ever World Cup team medal and podium finishes at Pan American Championships. These achievements helped place Dynamo on the map, not just as a local club, but as a serious force in high-performance fencing.