Elite Saber Coach

Coach Andrew Fischl is household name in the fencing community, renowned for his YouTube and social media presence Cyrusofchaos, where his fencing videos, analytical discussions, and fencer interviews have amassed over 18 million views. Coach Andrew has been involved in the sport for over 20 years, where he first began learning at Island Fencing Academy at the age of 16 and became a mentor for countless students, including coaches Brian and Donal. Coach Andrew went on to fence at Vassar College from 2007-2011, and studied at numerous world class clubs, including the New York Athletic Club, training with dozens of top ranked coaches and fencers. Coach Andrew went on to achieve remarkable success both domestically and internationally, where he went on to become ranked as high as 5th in the US and 92nd in the world, competing as a member of the US Senior National Team.

In addition to his successful career as a national team fencer and YouTube work, Coach Andrew has also been a regular presence at Regional and National competitions as a referee, where he directed countless bouts over the years, including numerous Gold Medal matches at National Championships. Coach Andrew made the transition to coaching in 2021 at Globus Fencing Academy, where he immediately made an impact on the club’s students alongside Coach Hyokun Lee, the Korean National Men’s Saber Coach. Various students of Coach Andrew have been accepted into and are fencing for top universities in the US, such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. Two of Coach Andrew’s most notable students include Taylor Chon and Silas Choi. Having trained extensively under Coach Andrew, both are members of the US Junior and Cadet World Teams and are multiple-time national champions. Taylor was the world champion of the 2023 Cadet World Cup in Meylon, France and both fencers have been ranked as high as 5th and 2nd in the world, respectively.

Head Saber Coach

Maestro Mikhail (Misha) Shimshovich graduated with a Masters degree from the Kiev Institute of Physical Education in Ukraine. He was a member the Junior and Senior Ukrainian National Team and a member of USSR Junior National Team. Maestro Misha was awarded an Honored Coach of Ukraine title in 1993, which is an official recognition of coaching achievements.

During his extensive career as a coach, Maestro Misha founded a children’s fencing program in Kiev High School 77. This program produced an Olympic Champion, Vadim Gutzaik, and many National and World Champions for the years to follow. As head coach of the Ukrainian National Team, his students included George Pogosov, the gold medalist of the 1992 Olympics in Madrid.

In addition to coaching at Allegro Fencing, Maestro Misha has previously served as the assistant coach for the St. Johns University 2001 NCAA Championship Team and organized an adult beginner program at the Fencers Club which was listed in the New York Times in 2006. He has numerous current students who are medalists and winners of National Championships and were finalists at the Veteran World Championships in 2014 and 2016.

Many of Maestro Misha’s students have been accepted to the top universities in the country including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and many more.

Saber Coach, Executive Director

Coach Igor Wilenski is a professional fencer with over 35 years of competitive and coaching experience. Coach Igor first started fencing in Kiev, Ukraine under Maestro Misha Shimshovich at the age of 11. During his competitive fencing career, Coach Igor was a Bronze Medalist at the Junior Dynamo All Star Championships in Kharkov, Ukraine.

Additionally, Coach Igor achieved several top-8 National Cadet and Junior standings, along with numerous top results in competitions throughout Ukraine. After relocating to Israel, Coach Igor was a Silver Medalist at the Maccabi Games in the Senior Men’s Saber event.

Following his retirement from competitive fencing, Coach Igor began his coaching career where he was a Saber Coach in Israel. Since 1990, Igor has been coaching in the US where he is a USA Fencing certified coach and continues to provide invaluable guidance to Allegro Fencing’s students, in addition to serving as Allegro Fencing’s executive director.

Elite Saber Coach, Assistant Director

Coach Brian Chen has over 15 years of competitive fencing experience and brings to Allegro Fencing Center a wealth of fencing and training knowledge. Coach Brian began fencing at Island Fencing Academy at the age of 12 under the tutelage of former US Junior and Cadet National Team Coach Boris Khurgin. Coach Brian also trained at Manhattan Fencing Center, home of the US Olympic Saber team, studying under legendary 5x Olympic Coach and Hall of Famer Yury Gelman, where he served as a training partner for several members of the US National Cadet Teams.

Coach Brian has competed at and achieved top results in competitions of all levels, in addition to participating in numerous international training programs both domestically and abroad that included members of German, Ukrainian, Greek, and Canadian national teams. Coach Brian is a USA Fencing certified coach and since 2010, was instrumental in the development of fencers at Island Fencing Academy and now at Allegro Fencing Center. Coach Brian works with Allegro’s intermediate and competitive fencers, where he regularly provides guidance to students at competitions, in addition to serving as Allegro Fencing’s assistant director.

Saber Coach

Coach Donal Mahoney is an accomplished fencer, with a long list of achievements in his fencing career. Coach Donal started fencing at Island Fencing Academy under former US Junior and Cadet National Team Coach Boris Khurgin and Maestro Misha Shimshovich, and is a former 2-time all Long Island fencer and was captain of the Garden City High School fencing team. During his competitive fencing career, Coach Donal placed in the top 8 of the 2016 Summer National Championships and was the gold medalist of the 2019 Atilla Peschauer Open Tournament.

During his collegiate career at UMass Amherst, Coach Donal was named captain of the fencing team, where he was a Bronze Medalist in the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Individual Championships. In addition to coaching at Allegro Fencing, Coach Donal previously served as the Assistant Coach and more recently, as Head Coach of the Cold Spring High School Fencing Team, where he was responsible for recruiting and building out their high school fencing program.

Guest Saber Coach

Coach Ashley Gomerman began fencing in 2010 at Island Fencing Academy at the age of 11 and was coached by former US Junior and Cadet National Team Coach Boris Khurgin and mentored by Puerto Rican team member and Internationally-ranked Saber fencer Brittany Cubano. As a fencer, Coach Ashley was a 2-time Bronze points winner for Region Three in Junior Women’s saber and was a 3-time member of the 1st All-Academic team.

Coach Ashley fenced for Northwestern University, one of the leading fencing schools in the US and throughout her exceptional fencing career, and achieved several undefeated streaks at competitions including the Vassar Invitational, Northwestern Duals, and DeCicco Duals.

Coach Ashley’s dominant fencing career for the NWU Wildcats culminated in being selected for 2 consecutive years for the Academic All-Big Ten and putting on a noteworthy performance at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, where she went on to earn a Top-20 finish individually and compiled an undefeated record to help Northwestern University finish second as a team at the MFC Championships.

Guest Saber Coach

Maestro Mikhail (Misha) Tsipis is a guest Coach at Allegro Fencing Center where he frequently trains Allegro Fencers through annual competitive training clinics and individual lessons. Maestro Misha Tsipis began fencing in 1967 in Kiev, Ukraine under the tutelage of Allegro Fencing’s Maestro Mikhail Shimshovich. As a former teammate of Allegro Fencing’s Igor Wilenski, Maestro Misha achieved the prestigious award of Master of Sports of the USSR at the young age of 17 and was awarded a position on the Ukrainian National Team at the age of 20. As a member of the Ukrainian Team, Maestro Misha went on to achieve top results in dozens of competitions internationally and was a 2-time champion of the USSR. Maestro Misha also went on to Mentor multiple-time World Champion and 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist George Pogosov, the current head coach of Stanford University’s men’s and women’s fencing team.

Since 1994, Maestro Misha began his coaching career at the Ukrainian powerhouse club “Dynamo” Kiev, which produced multiple Olympic and World Champions. In 2016, Maestro Misha moved to Chicago, where he currently is the 3-weapon head coach and director of the Life Sport Athletic Club Fencing program. As a coach in Chicago, Maestro Misha has produced a number of successful fencers including 2019 National Champion Emmeline Bae.