Position: Head Coach
12th Season At St. John’s
As Yury Gelman enters his 12th season as head coach of the Red
Storm fencing teams, he has the distinguished accomplishment of
holding the second highest wins total out of current St. Johns’
coaches. His 223 wins over the last 11 seasons are second only to
men’s soccer coach Dr. Dave Masur, who has 229 over the last 15
years.
During his time with St. John’s, his teams have finished now lower
than sixth place at the NCAA Championships. His 2001 team, which
featured four current or former United States Olympians and seven
individuals who won individual NCAA titles during their careers,
was perhaps his best. Both his men’s and women’s teams posted
records of 13-2 during the regular season and went on to claim the
Intercollegiate Fencing Association championship and the NCAA
Championship, the University’s second-ever NCAA title.
The team finished second at the NCAA Championships in 2000 and
2002, and in third three times (1996, 1997 and 2003). After taking
fourth in 2004, the Red Storm followed up with a third place finish
at the 2005 NCAA Championships. During last season’s NCAA
Championships, Gelman led Erzsebet Garay to an Individual
Championship title and Adam Rodney to a sixth place finish for the
men. St. John’s took sixth place oeverall.
His men’s teams have recorded a 114-25 record in 10 seasons,
including an 8-5 record last season. The men have posted two
perfect seasons under Gelman, going 14-0 in 1999-2000 and 12-0 in
2003-04.
The women’s team has been just as competitive, as Gelman has
guided it to a 110-50 record, including a 13-1 mark in 2002-03, its
best-ever under Gelman. Garay’s 45 wins last season serves as one
of the highest win totals of any female fencer in St. John’s
history.
Under Gelman’s leadership, St. John’s fencers have won 12
individual NCAA titles, including Garay’s 2006 title and the men’s
epee crown by Arpad Horvath in 2003-04. More than 50
student-athletes have earned All-American honors, including seven
last season. Off the strip, three fencers – Alex Roytblat, Arlene
Stevens and Emese Takacs – earned Academic All-America honors, and
Garay earned ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District
honors.
Gelman brings a vast knowledge of fencing, as well as the
necessary experience at the upper echelon of international
competition that he can impart on his student-athletes.
A professional coach for over 25 years, he has prepared many
members of the United States junior and senior teams.
Serving as national coach of the United States team, his sabre
group took the gold medal during last summer’s Grand Prix World Cup
in Venezuela. Under his guidance, Gelman’s students have won many
individual Grand Prix and World Cup events. In 2004, Gelman coached
the United States during the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The
personal coach for former Red Storm fencers Keeth Smart and Ivan
Lee, Gelman guided the 2004 United States sabre squad to a
fourth-place finish, the best ever finish for the team.
He also coached the U.S. team in Sydney in 2000, mentoring Akhi
Spencer-El, one of the top-ranked fencers in the country in sabre
and a two-time national champion. In addition, he coached two of
his then-current student-athletes, Smart and Arlene Stevens.
Gelman was the first coach for Lee, a two-time NCAA Champion, who
won a gold medal at cadet world championships and took home a
silver medal from junior world championships, during his collegiate
years. Lee is currently ranked among the top-20 fencers in the
world.
Gelman’s coaching experience began at the Kiev Physical Education
College, where he was coach from 1977-91. He was also the Ukranian
Fencing Team coach from 1987-91.
A 1977 graduate of Kiev Physical Education College with a degree
in physical education and coaching of fencing, he earned his
master’s degree in physical education in 1981 from Kiev.
He is currently a fencing coach at the New York Fencer’s Club in
upper Manhattan. He lives in Brooklyn.