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.

 

Elliott Clinton started fencing at nine years old in Rochester, New York, under Olympic Coach Buckie Leach. After a very successful Cadet career, Elliott moved to Portland, Oregon, to train under Maestro Ed Korfanty. Training under Maestro Korfanty, Elliott went on to become a three-time National Champion and represented the U.S. in three World Championships. Elliott's hard work eventually led him to be an alternate to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

In 2006, Elliott started coaching in Rochester, where he developed a Sabre program that experienced successes in the youth, cadet and junior circuits. His students went on to fence for Cornell, Brandeis, US Air Force Academy, Vassar, and more. In 2012, Elliott moved his family to Denver, Colorado, to eventually become the head coach of Fencing Academy of Denver’s Parker location. While there, Elliott coached two National and Junior Olympic champions. Elliott is also a nationally rated referee, officiating Division 1 Sabre final matches and NCAA competitions.

 
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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.

 

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.

 

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.

Tim Hoffman started fencing in college at George Mason University. There he became president of the fencing club and led the school to three strong seasons, earning several medals and conference championship wins. During this time, he started fencing at Capital Fencing Academy. After graduating from college in 2017, Tim worked with Coach Dariusz for two years as a Capital coach.

In January of 2020, Tim moved to Natick, Massachusetts to work at Zeta Fencing. There, he trained as a coach for 5 years with U.S. Olympic coach Zoran Tulum, one of Team USA's most successful coaches with several of his students participating in the Olympic Games. This unique opportunity allowed Tim to benefit from Zoran's extensive experience at the national and international levels of fencing competition. Tim's students at Zeta brought home several regional medals as well as attained national rankings.