Ariana Klinkov

Biography

Ariana Klinkov was named the Head Coach of Women's Fencing at Cornell University in September 2019. Klinkov joins the Big Red after four successful seasons as the head fencing coach at Wellesley College, where she guided the program from an 11-10 record in 2015-16 to a 23-5 mark in 2018-19, winning the first New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference championship in 2018-19. Prior to Wellesley, Klinkov directed the fencing program at Tufts University for five seasons and served as a coach at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. At Cornell, she has established top 10 national rankings as the norm, posting a 113-32 dual meet record with 26 wins over nationally ranked opponents and five All-Americans. Notable achievements include leading the Big Red to a program-best 24-10 record in her first season and a 33-5 mark in 2022 with a 32-game winning streak to start the season. As a competitor, Klinkov was a member of the 1995 U.S. national champion women's sabre team, the 1998 U.S. national silver medal women's sabre team, and the 2003 U.S. national silver medal women's sabre team. She also serves as a member of the Fencing Officials Commission and became the first female referee to officiate a world championship gold medal match in sabre and the first female three-weapon referee in the world.