Pundyk joined the Yale fencing staff in 2016. Her philosophy is “Becoming a great fencer requires proper technique and strategy, but it also demands the right behavior and healthy habits in any athlete's personal life."
The journey to becoming a Ukrainian, European, World and Olympic fencing champion started when Galya Pundyk was 12 years old in her hometown of Netishyn in Western Ukraine. After a year of training, she won her first local Cadet tournament. With the support of her family and coach, she was motivated to set even more ambitious goals. After years of hard work, she won her first Cadet National Championship, earned a spot on the Cadet National Team and climbed to third in the Cadet world ranking.
In 2007, she won a silver medal in the team event at Senior World Championships and qualified for the 2008 Olympics. In Beijing, Pundyk and team Ukraine took home a gold medal in women's saber, fulfilling her dream of becoming an Olympic champion. Pundyk continued to compete at an elite level for another eight years, collecting six additional World Championship medals and two individual European Championship bronze medals.
As a senior athlete on the Ukrainian National Team, she had the chance to mentor the next generation of Ukrainian fencers. Reflecting on this she said: “It was so rewarding to see how the results of my training throughout my competitive career could benefit younger fencers. Now as I focus on coaching rather than competing, I consider it an honor and a privilege to help my students achieve their potential.”
Pundyk has now become an important part of the Yale coaching staff, leading practices, designing workouts and giving one-on-one lessons to student-athletes.
Pundyk sees fencing as a beautiful sport, and her goal is to teach everyone what it takes to become a champion. She believes there are many important life skills one can learn from athletics. Coach Pundyk says: "All champions must keep a positive mentality, set short and long-term goals, and most importantly, work hard. At Yale, I want all my students to perfect the mentality of a champion, in the classroom and on the strip."
