Dariusz Gilman is the head coach and owner of Capital Fencing Academy, a fencing facility he opened in August 2013.

Trained as a coach at AZS AWF Katowice in Poland and certified as a fencing master with the US Fencing Coaches Association, Dariusz was the saber coach at the DC Fencers’ Club for more than a decade. 

He also worked with Ed Korfanty, coach of the Olympic Gold Medal Sabre team, and with Penn State University’s elite sabre fencing program. 

He has a master’s degree in physical therapy and a fencing master certification from the Polish Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland.

Dariusz began fencing when he was 10 years old in his native Poland. He started competing internationally in his early teens and continued for more than a decade, earning results that include:

  • 1991 Cadet European Champion

  • 1991 Cadet World Champion

  • 1992 Junior European Champion

  • 1998 World Championships, Bronze Medal, Polish Sabre Team

  • Polish National Champion

Dariusz’s students have achieved national and international results of distinction, including being champions and medalists at World Cups, Junior Olympics, NCAA and USFA competitions.  His students have fenced for some of the nation’s most prestigious universities and leading collegiate fencing programs, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Haverford, and Penn State University.

 

Leanne Brenner, Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW), is an accomplished sabre fencer, coach, U.S. Space Force veteran, and mental health therapist.

She began fencing at age 12 at Sacramento Saber Fencing Club in California and went on to become a three-time NCAA All-American and member of Team USA’s senior world traveling team. Leanne represented the U.S. at multiple Senior World Cups and the 2017 World University Games, earning numerous top-8 national and top-64 international results. Her most notable performances include gold at a 2018 Div1WS NAC, silver in 2019, and bronze at the 2016 NCAA Championships, culminating in her highest senior national ranking of 6th in 2019.

After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2020 with her Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Sciences, four-time MVP accolades, and leadership experience as a team captain during her senior year, Leanne trained as a 2021 and 2024 Olympic hopeful in the military’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). During this time, she also served as a certified NCAA Div1 assistant coach for the U.S. Air Force Academy team, leading the men’s and women’s sabre squads at collegiate tournaments, NACs, and NCAA championships.

Now a 2025 Master of Social Work graduate from Boston University, Leanne blends her athletic and clinical backgrounds to support the physical and mental development of athletes both on and off the strip. Through the integration of evidence-based psychology techniques into fencing practice, Leanne is passionate developing athletes who excel not only in competition but also in character, resilience, and personal growth.

 

Nicolas del Vecchio started fencing under Coach Dariusz when he was eight years old. While in high school he competed internationally representing the United States in several Cadet World cups. He finished the 2016 season medaling at every cadet NAC of the year. These results helped Nicolas attain a top-ten ranking in the Junior national points list, and a top-twenty ranking in the Senior list. He culminated his high school career with a top eight placement at a Junior NAC followed by a top sixteen placement in the Division One event.

Nicolas was recruited to fence at Yale University, where he was twice elected captain of the team and helped lead the team to some historic victories. He qualified for NCAA’s, garnered All-American Honors, and was awarded an Academic All-Ivy accolade. Nicolas recently graduated with a degree in Political Science, and is excited to work with all of the fencers at Capital.

 
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Lillie Lainoff is a Capital coach and college advisor, and a 2018 graduate of Yale University. A longtime student of Coach Dariusz, she’s fenced competitively since age eleven. As a starter at Yale, Lillie qualified for NCAA Championships as a senior and helped her team to its first top-ten end-of-season finish in over a decade. She is a recipient of Yale’s Corey Friedlander Award for her work as the fencing team's general manager and the Spirit of Sport Award from the US Fencing Association.

She received her Masters in Creative Writing Prose Fiction at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, and is the author of ONE FOR ALL, a genderbent reimagining of The Three Musketeers that was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in March 2022.

 

Nick Ferrara is a veteran sabre fencer with more than 20 years of fencing experience. As a competitive fencer, Nick currently holds an "A" rating in sabre, the highest possible rating, and has won gold medals in individual and team sabre events at the national level.

Nick has a broad breadth of experience in fencing, including experience at the collegiate, local, regional, national, and international levels. He has held ratings in all three weapons (foil, epee, and sabre), and has more than 15 years of experience as a referee in all three weapons. Nick is currently a certified referee observer, providing mentorship for developing referees throughout the DC metro area.

Nick previously fenced at the University of Cambridge, training with their varsity team, coaching their novice varsity teams, and offering private lessons in all three weapons. He was also a senior national referee and referee examiner for British Fencing.

Nick is a graduate of Oberlin College, with degrees in Computer Science and Politics, where he led the fencing club's sabre squad.