For two hours a day, six days a week, sabre fencer Anya Suvorova trains under Dynamo Fencing Head Coach Alex Kushkov. Ariel Eybelmen does the same, four or five days a week.
Coach Krushov, a Ukrainian national, founded Dynamo in 2013, with the goal of bringing his beloved sport to the broader community and “to raise the champions” – like these two fencers, climbing to the top rungs of the sport.
Newton-based teens Ariel Eybelmen and Anya Suvorova have succeeded at both national and international levels. Suvorova, 15, began fencing at age 8 in her hometown of Odessa, Ukraine. “In [Odessa], there was only one fencing team: sabre,” she said. After four years of continuous training, war broke out, forcing her to take a break for half a year. “By the end of 2022, I returned to fencing and continued practicing as before.”
The war in Ukraine caused Suvorova to move from her home country to America, where she received a four-year scholarship from Star Academy of Boston. Competing as part of the Ukrainian team, Suvorova achieved a bronze medal in the individual cadet event at the 2024 World Cup in Bucharest and again at the European Championships in Antalya. In 2023, at the age of 14, she claimed gold at the Ukrainian Cadet Championships.
“I am proud to compete under the Ukrainian flag, especially during the time of war,” Suvorova said. “By competing under the Ukrainian flag, I am turning attention to my loved country, so people wouldn’t forget that Ukraine is still there and war is not over.”
Eybelman, 16, was born in Boston to Ukrainian parents and began fencing sabre at age 9. “My coach, who also represented Ukraine in his youth, suggested I consider fencing for Ukraine,” he said. “It felt like a meaningful way to stay connected to my heritage and contribute to something larger than myself.”
Since then, Eybelman has competed internationally as a member of Ukraine’s national team. He made the top eight at the World Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia, and finished the season ranked first on Ukraine’s national points list for the U17 age group. “The energy and level of competition at the World Championships in Wuxi…made it an unforgettable experience.” On the weekend of June 28th, Eybelman also fenced at the Summer National Championships in Milwaukee.
Both teens stick to grueling schedules to maintain their academic and athletic performance. “Of course, it requires a lot of effort and discipline,” Suvorova said. “But if you truly want it, you can do it.”
Eybelman agrees. “Balancing school and fencing can be intense, but I’ve learned to manage my time carefully using weekends, study blocks, and staying organized so I can perform at a high level in both areas.” Both Eybelman and Suvorova have received an All-American First team and All Academic First Team award by the United States Fencing Association (USFA).
For Coach Krushkov, there is no model of an ideal fencer; each athlete is different. “Fencing is… a sport which doesn’t require specific things like heights, weight, size of the kid, or speed of his reaction. It does require…training, [but] any kid can do it.” In fact, in his fifteen years of coaching, he has encountered only five students for whom he did not recommend the sport.
Because the sport of fencing is suitable to a wide range of athletes, Coach Kushkov aims to cultivate different skills in different fencers. Yet some qualities are shared across the leading fencers. “What stands out about [Suvorova and Eybelman] is their drive, their determination, and the way that they don’t give up,” he said. He noted that the younger fencers in the club see these two “as role models and work hard to follow their example.”
Both Suvorova and Eybelman plan to continue fencing in college and are looking for programs that offer high-level training alongside strong academics.
For now, their focus remains on the piste and on doing their best, one point at a time, for the team and country they represent.
Noa Kelmer-Racin is a Fig City News student reporter and a rising junior at Princeton University.
