2010-07-14 07:06:13 - Olympic Saber Fencer Wins National Championship

ATLANTA, GA (July 6, 2010) – After bringing home a surprise silver medal in Beijing, Tim Morehouse’s success continued today at the U.S. Fencing Summer National Championship in Atlanta, where he won his first individual championship in Division One Men’s Saber. The championships, held at the Georgia World Congress Center, are the largest in the world, with over 6,500 men and women competing in 102 events.

Morehouse’s championship victory came over the 25 year old up-and-comer, Ben Igoe. Morehouse (31 years old, ranked 13th in the world and 1st in the U.S.) was trailing Igoe 13-7 before staging a dramatic comeback to win 15-14.

It is rare to see a first-time championship winner over 30 years old, and Morehouse was clearly

proud of this accomplishment. He said after the match, “For anyone who’s followed my career you know I was very late to becoming a top fencer, so coming from behind was a very fitting way to win my first championship. I’ve always had that underdog mentality, and that definitely helped me pull it out today.”

New York was well represented among the winners, as the top 3 and 7 of the top 8 hail from the Empire State. Morehouse represents the Manhattan Fencing Center and Igoe fences for the New York Athletic Club.

Tim will look to build on this success at the Pan American Championships this August in Costa Rica and the World Fencing Championships in Paris this November.

In Beijing, the men’s saber team missed the Gold by a single match. Morehouse is on a personal mission to take the Gold in 2012. He will surely be one to watch at the London games.

The New York native Morehouse’s climb to the top has been anything but conventional. Only beginning his fencing career in middle school and graduating college as an almost complete unknown in international competitions, Tim does not have a traditional fencing background. He is not a natural athlete, he doesn’t fence by the book, and he had no financial backing as he traveled around the world attempting to qualify for the 2004 Olympic team.

Tim is committed to bringing the sport of fencing to the next level of national attention so that it has the recognition of sports like swimming and gymnastics, enabling him and his teammates to compete for corporate sponsorship dollars. He helped kickoff the Summer National Championships on Friday at a community outreach event at the Warren/Holyfield Boys & Girls Club, displaying his skills with live fencing demonstrations.

Tim definitely appreciates the attention, not for himself, but for his sport. He said, “Fencing is one of the greatest sports in the world and more people are realizing its benefits both physically and mentally and that's very exciting.” Acting as an unofficial ambassador of fencing, Morehouse is the founder and spokesperson for of Ten Thousand Fencers, an online community and social media network aimed at getting ten thousand new people to try the sport. His efforts to increase the national visibility of the sport have led to features in ESPN Magazine, a fashion spread in Esquire and the New York Post has named him one of New York City’s Top 10 Most Eligible Bachelors. He has been seen in a national television commercial for Team USA and an associated print ad in USA Today. In addition to the growing following he has attracted to his own blog, he also posts regularly for NBC Universal Sports and the US Olympic Committee.

In addition to being a world-class athlete, Tim is a former public school teacher and supports himself giving speeches at schools and corporations throughout the country. Since returning from Beijing, Tim has spoken to over 6,000 children and young people in urban schools who find inspiration in his amazing story.

For more information on Tim Morehouse please visit www.TimMorehouse.com. To request an interview, please contact Luke Messecar at 617-717-8294 or luke@ictusinitiative.com.

About Tim Morehouse

Tim Morehouse is an Olympic silver medalist fencer and professional speaker. For the past eight seasons, Tim has trained under US National Coach Yury Gelman, and he currently represents the Manhattan Fencing Center in New York City. A graduate of Brandeis University, Morehouse was a three time All-American during his college years. He was an alternate for the 2004 Olympic team in Athens, and won a silver medal as a member of the 2008 Beijing Olympic team. He currently acts as a spokesperson for Kid Fitness, an organization geared toward helping kids make healthy choices.

Tim is a former teacher and staff member of Teach for America, and he has his Master’s in Education from Pace University. He was the subject of an Emmy-award winning television documentary and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post, which names him one of New York City’s Top 10 Most Eligible Bachelors. Tim has made presentations to corporate audiences across America, including General Electric, Hugo Boss, and Google. He is also a regular on the red carpets of New York City. Tim grew up in East Harlem, and currently resides in Manhattan.