And there is no better example than Igor Gantsevich.
At the age of eight, in 1996, he and his family immigrated to Canada. The family was all born in Kiev, where his dad Victor was the National Fencing Coach of Ukraine – working under the Soviet system.
“I was quite sick when I was born due to Chernobyl,” says Igor Gantsevich. “We had an opportunity to defect and we moved to Israel in 1991, prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union.”The family lived in Israel for fi ve years, from 1991 to 1996, prior to immigrating to Canada.“We loved it in Israel, but the safety and political drama pushed us to move to Canada for a better life.”While his father made a global name for himself as a fencing coach for three separate national teams: Ukraine, Israel and Canada, young Igor was excelling in sports in his own right
There is no greater story than being transplanted to a new country for a better life and then achieving it.
Left: Jim Murray with his vintage BMW Z8 visiting the Dynamo Fencing Academy
Right: Dynamo Fencing Academy team celebrating the Olympic medal
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“Growing up I was playing tennis and was one of the top players for my age in Israel when we moved to Canada,” says Gantsevich. “I transitioned to full-time fencing when I was around 12 years old due to fi nancial implications.“We just could not aff ord tennis here in Canada and fencing was free for me.”Having been involved in the fencing family business, Gantsevich began leading the club as of 2010, after sustaining a career-ending injury on his wrist that required four surgeries.“I never was able to recover. I went into coaching and leading the Dynamo Fencing Club right away.”Having been the head of Canadian Olympic Fencing Team at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Gantsevich
now oversees the family’s three locations in Richmond, North Vancouver and Gastown.It remains a family-run business and has become one of the largest and most successful fencing programs in North America. “We have over 600 full-time students that train at the club on a weekly basis,” he adds.
“I would say well over 5,000 trials – or visitors to our location on a yearly basis who put on the gear. “We have seen countless kids become exposed to fencing over the years through our programs.”And many of those students have gone on to achieve success in their own right and fi nd themselves on the Olympics radar.
It remains a family-run business and has become one of the largest and most successful fencing programs in North America
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“We have seen countless kids become exposed to fencing over the years through our programs.”
“We had Nicholas Zhang in Paris,” says Gantsevich, of one such notable. “He was literally a product of our club – from beginner to Olympian.
He came into the program at seven years old and is now 18. In his first year at Harvard where he got recruited.”Other Olympic names to emanate from the Dynamo Fencing programs include Shaul Gordon and Monica Pinnette.
And then there’s Eleanor Harvey. “She trained with us leading up to the 2024 Olympics. Eleanor has joined Dynamo Fencing – post Paris Olympics, as Canada’s first ever Olympic Fencing Medalist.” Pwww.dynamofencing.com
