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Strategy, Athleticism Are Keys At Local Athletes At Fencing Center

BREWSTER, N.Y. - Tucked in a back room on the second floor of the Brewster Ice Arena is the Putnam County Fencing Center.

Lifelong fencer and nine-time national champion Michelle Verhave, of Croton Falls, and Lasha Sopromadze are co-coaches and owners of the Center, which is in its second year at the Ice Arena, and its fourth year overall in Brewster.

The center has classes six days a week, and welcomes kids from ages six on up to adults. They also offer private lessons.

"We've had a very good response to the Center," Verhave told Daily Voice during a recent visit. "You do have to be in good shape, but you also have to think. It requires a lot of strategy. You can be a good athlete, but not be so good at it - you have to have a combination of athleticism and smarts."

One of the students at the center, 13-year-old Greta Candreva, of Somers (a Somers Middle School student), is currently ranked third in the U.S. in Cadet Women's Epee (17U), and is aiming for an Olympic birth in 2020.

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