Retired fencing coach leaves as Columbia legend

One of the longest and most successful coaching eras in Columbia athletics history came to an end earlier this month with the retirement of head coach and director of fencing George Kolombatovich. The Lions will be hard-pressed to fill the shoes left by the international fencing legend.

The success that the fencing program has maintained during Kolombatovich’s tenure as coach will be difficult to match. Perhaps more importantly, though, with his retirement the Columbia community is losing one of its most fascinating, caring, and influential members.

The first thing that strikes you upon meeting with George Kolombatovich is his sense of humor.

“Coach is one of the biggest jokesters ever,” junior co-captain Sammy Roberts said. “He loves to meet people and he’s really easy to get along with. He loves to goof around and be funny.”

“He had an eccentric sense of humor. He was willing to have a laugh with his students even if it came at his own expense,” Gerard Ramm, CC ’13 and a student in Kolobatovich’s fencing physical education class, said.

Kolombatovich is also very thoughtful and has a great ability to remember details about the people he meets. For example, whenever Kolombatovich travels and has access to the business lounges at airports, he stops and brings back a very specific type of cheese which he knows one of his secretaries, Danette Diaz, really enjoys.

In addition to his personality, Kolombatovich is a very well-spoken, knowledgeable, and intelligent individual.

“He is an incredibly erudite man, well-versed in many different areas,” Steve Mormando, the head coach of fencing at NYU said. Mormando has known, competed against, and worked with Kolombatovich for over three decades.

Besides his love of fencing, Kolombatovich’s eclectic interests include opera, bridge, and history.

For example, Kolombatovich worked as a combat choreographer, staging fights and training performers in weapon use, in both opera and film. Most of this work was done with the Metropolitan Opera between 1969 and 1982.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” Kolombatovich said. “I got to work with so many tremendous musicians.”

One of the stories that Kolombatovich fondly remembers from his days with the Met was a performance of an off-stage aria in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.”

“I was talking with Luciano Pavarotti [back stage] and he said, ‘Excuse me’, and he sang his off-stage aria and then we continued our conversation,” Kolombatovich said.

To help preserve the historical accuracy of the productions, Kolombatovich sought to learn the history of how weapons were used and the reasons for their designs.

Kolombatovich also taught as an adjunct professor at SUNY-Purchase’s theater department.

Kolombatovich began fencing at the age of four with the help of his father, Oscar Kolombatovich, who was a fencing master. George then went on to attend NYU on a full athletic scholarship.

Unfortunately, Kolombatovich was a passenger in a vicious car accident in which the car wrapped around a tree.

“I was told by a number of doctors that I’d never be able to fence again,” Kolombatovich said, following the accident.

Determined not to abandon the sport he loved, Kolombatovich turned to coaching.

After coaching at NYU for one season, Kolombatovich joined Columbia in 1978 and was named head coach in 1979.

Columbia fencing has a rich and prestigious history dating back to the coaching of James Murray, the “Dean of American Fencers,” and Irv DeKoff, who had the highest winning percentage (.843) in the school’s history.

Kolombatovich certainly continued that legacy. During his 32-year reign Kolombatovich has guided the women’s team to a record of 311-83 and the men to a 286-114 mark.

From 1983-2005, Kolombatovich served as co-head coach with Dr. Aladar Kogler, who continues to serve as an associate coach. In an amazing six-year run the Lions won the men’s national championship three straight years from 1987-1989. After the men’s and women’s championships were combined, the Light Blue finished second in 1990 and 1991 while winning in 1992 and 1993.

“Aladar and George really were a team” said Dr. M. Dianne Murphy, director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education. “You can’t mention George without mentioning Aladar.”

Clearly, the partnership between Kolomatovich and Kogler yielded tremendous results for Columbia fencing. “It was a very good solution because both of us could use our strengths for the benefit of the entire fencing team,” Kogler said in an email.

Daria Schneider CC ’10, who is currently the interim head coach, has worked with both coaches for years as an assistant coach and as the 2007 Individual NCAA National Champion in sabre.

“Aladar is more hands on,” she said. “George oversees the team as a whole and deals with recruits and the bigger picture issues of the team. They balance each other very well.”

Seventeen Columbians have become individual national champions and the men’s and women’s teams have won seventeen and seven Ivy League titles, respectively, with Kolombatovich at the helm. Two Columbians, Erinn Smart, BC ’01, and James Williams, CC ’08, even went on to win silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In summary, Dr. Murphy said, “George leaves a legacy of success. It’s as simple as that.”

Thanks to Kolombatovich’s support, Columbia fencers have made the most out of the renowned fencing clubs here in New York City. Instead of exclusively fencing against the other fencers on the team, Columbia fencers are able to fence dozens of world-class fencers who compete in World Cup events and the Olympics as well as work with their personal coaches.

Kolombatovich always supported the schedules and individual choices of his fencers. The freedom he provided helped bring talented fencers to Columbia.

“His philosophy really drew me into the program,” Roberts said.

Yet, Kolombatovich continued to care for his athletes and support them whenever they were in need.

“George over the years would fight for his kids on many different levels,” Mormando said. “If one of his students at Columbia had a problem, George was first in line to try and help him. If his kids had a problem out on the strip or in tournaments he would be the first to step out there and protect and help them out.”

Kolombatovich will most remember the amazing student-athletes he worked with over the years. “The main thing that I was able to accomplish was to have so many phenomenal student-athletes who were able to take part in the great academic atmosphere of Columbia as well as improve as fencers,” he said.

Kolombatovich’s success at Columbia is only part of his fencing legacy.

Kolombatovich coached the United States in six Junior World Championships and was coach and chief of mission in seven Junior Pan American Championships.

His greatest legacy may be the work he has done for refereeing. Kolombatovich is a Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE) A-rated referee and a member of the United States Fencing Association’s (USFA) Fencing Officials Committee. Both the FIE and USFA have published his handbook for referees.

Kolombatovich has also refereed at numerous World Cup events, World Championships, Pan American Games, and three Olympic Games. In addition, Kolombatovich is a noted referee in wheelchair fencing and has been involved with three Paralympic Games.

“George cared deeply about the sport,” Murphy said. “George worked tirelessly to really promote fencing across the world.”

“I have nothing but the greatest respect for George,” Mormando said. “I think he was an absolute class act and he’s certainly going to be a hard act to follow.”

The Athletics Department will most likely hire a replacement in about a month.

With his supreme knowledge of the sport internationally known, Kolombatovich has already received multiple offers for jobs now that he has left Columbia.

“I’m not going to sit home and watch Oprah,” he said. “But what exactly I’ll do, I don’t know.”

Undoubtedly, George Kolombatovich’s presence and knowledge of fencing will be sorely missed by all those who know him at Columbia.