Athletes from Richmond-based Dynamo Fencing Club earned a "historic number of seats" on this year's national fencing team.
The club secured 61 per cent of Team Canada's spots in the foil and épée fencing disciplines, explained Igor Gantsevich, president of Dynamo Fencing Club.
Seventeen out of the 28 possible spots for the 2025 Cadet and Junior (U17/U20) Canadian National Team belong to Dynamo. The athletes will travel to Wuxi, China, for the Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships from April 7 to 15.
Key team members include Olympian épée fencer Nicholas Zhang, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Simon Shan, the U20 North American champion, Bowen Xu, world championship bronze medallist in U15 foil and Nadia Hayes, ranked top 10 in the world in the U20 fencing category.
Gantsevich called this Dynamo's "most successful year to date" in qualifying for Team Canada.
"It’s an incredible achievement and a testament to our program here in the Lower Mainland," he said, noting that this did "not occur overnight" and is the result of work from coaches and athletes for the past 20 years.
"We are really excited to see our athletes fence on the world stage and show what Canadian fencers are made of."
Among the athletes heading to the U17/U20 World Championship, Shan is one of Dynamo's youngest fencers to take home the U20 North American Champion title.
At 14, he was ranked number one in the U14 men's épée in North America and won the U20 North American Cup, becoming the youngest to ever achieve the title.
Now 15, the Sentinel secondary student is training with his sights set on next week's World Championships.
Shan told the Richmond News he started fencing at 11 after his mom suggested he try it.
"I didn't really want to, but she told me I should try it," said Shan.
"I gave it a try. I liked it and I kind of stayed in it."
He described the sport as one that requires a lot of "thinking and training," which made him enjoy it even more.
When Shan found out he made it on the national team, he was with his mom, who was thrilled.
"She was happy I made it and that I pursued fencing. I wasn't too surprised, but I was definitely happy and excited."
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