Beijing gets a taste of Waltham this summer when former Brandeis fencer Tim Morehouse (Class of 2000) will compete for Team USA at next month's Summer Games.
That is not a misprint. A former Division III athlete from a small school 10 miles west of Boston will be competing on the world's biggest stage - the Summer Olympics.
Brandeis has prepared numerous baseball players for professional ball. The school has had basketball alumni continue playing overseas. Myriad athletes have garnered All-American awards, and lately the soccer, basketball teams, among others, have made the school's athletic department proud.
Now it's time for an Olympian. Morehouse jets around the globe as the 17th-ranked fencer on the planet, courtesy of his second-place finish at the Pan-American Zonal Championships in Mexico City earlier this month. He is set to go in the individual duel on Aug. 12. He and his saber teammates (ranked seventh out of eight teams) are slated to face off against Hungary's crew in the first round of team competition, scheduled for Aug. 17.
The red, white and blue squad is coming off impressive victories over Mexico and Canada en route to capturing the team title (and gold medal) in the Pan-American games in Mexico City.
If you don't know the first thing about fencing, you can still appreciate how a fencer who wasn't even ``the man'' on his high school team has risen the ranks to have the honor of representing his country.
``I wasn't the best fencer on the team,'' Morehouse, a New York native, explained about his high school fencing career.
But things changed quickly once he arrived at Brandeis. He was competing at the Division III level, but the nature of fencing, at least in college, allows for much inter-division competition.
``For me, it's been a very slow, steady increase,'' said Morehouse. ``Every season I've improved. I had a really strong college career.''
The numbers certainly back it up. After falling short of qualifying for NCAAs as a freshman, Morehouse finished 10th in the NCAAs as a sophomore to go along with being tabbed an All-American for the first of three times. He garnered a sixth-place finish in the NCAAs the following winter, and capped his marvelous collegiate career with a fourth-place spot before graduating.
The accolades don't stop there for Morehouse. Three times he was anointed an All-American saber fencer while he was at Brandeis. Morehouse's competition included the likes of annual powerhouses St.John's and Penn State.
And there would be more top-notch opponents for Morehouse. Many more.
After graduating from Brandeis eight years ago, Morehouse embarked on the Teach for America program. He found time to continue fencing, be it in regional tournaments or national tryouts. He was selected as an alternate to the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, and got a taste of what it was like to be under such a grand limelight.
Falling short of being a regular on the 2004 squad was naturally quite a disappointment for Morehouse. It provided just that much more incentive to secure a spot on the fencing crew America is sending halfway around the world.
Even the world's top fencers remain anonymous in the eyes of most sports fans. They are not featured on Pepsi commercials, nor have their own bobble head dolls. Having fencing matches aired on national television and radio is nearly unheard of. Every four years, though, the Olympics changes some of that.
``For fencing, the Olympics is as close as you can come to being a professional star or a rock star,'' said Morehouse.
To his credit, Morehouse hasn't forgotten the springboard for his illustrious career.
``My experience at Brandeis was a huge part of my experience now,'' he added. ``Coach Shipman was really great, saw potential in me.''
Brandeis coach Bill Shipman actively recruited Morehouse out of high school and was faithful to Morehouse throughout his four years on South Street. Shipman's protege credits Brandeis for providing him with an excellent education in addition to extending his fencing career.
``I'm very proud of being the first Brandeis Olympian,'' declared Morehouse. ``I feel I'm representing the school when I go there.''
Morehouse has already been profiled on NBCsports.com, as well as on PBS. Sure, there will be more media coverage and hype than one can imagine, but Morehouse knows where his priorities lie: on the mat.
``I think this year there is going to be unprecedented TV coverage,'' acknowledged Morehouse. ``There are definitely a lot of distractions. You have to stay focused on competing. The only thing I'm worried about is the opponent in front of me.''
Just the kind of focus that it takes to make the quantum leap from the Brandeis campus all the way to the Olympics.
