As one of four members of the second-place U.S. Olympic men's saber team, Tim Morehouse '00 became the first Brandeis alumnus to capture an Olympic medal. Morehouse and the U.S. saber fencing team had a flair for the dramatic in their silver medal-winning performance at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing this August. While competing in the men's team saber competition Aug. 17, Morehouse said he believed he and teammates Keeth Smart and Jason Rodgers were able to avoid being caught up in the moment and succumbing to the pressure associated with the situation.

Such flair fueled the team to a historic silver-medal finish that featured dramatic 45-44 comeback wins in the quarterfinal match against Hungary and the semifinal match against Russia. The squad fell 45-37 to France in the gold-medal match.

Still, once the competition was over, the victory tour began, and Morehouse and his teammates couldn't help but get swept up in the Olympic experience.

"When you have an Olympic medal, people are drawn to you," Morehouse admitted.

They appeared on NBC's The Today Show, taking pictures with Matt Lauer, Ann Curry and Al Roker before navigating through a crowd of adoring fans. They watched basketball with figure skater Michelle Kwan, took pictures with actor Vince Vaughn, dined with U.S. Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt and rode in the White House motorcade with Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. Everyone they knew was congratulating them. Morehouse estimated that he received over 150 e-mails a day and hundreds of messages on his Facebook account in the days after the competition ended.

For a fencer whose career began to blossom at Division III Brandeis, it was an overwhelming experience.

"It feels like The Chronicles of Narnia," Morehouse said. "It's like a fantasy world where everything's free and everyone wants your autograph. Eventually, I'm going to have to go back to the real world, but for now, I'm enjoying the ride."

In the eight years since Morehouse concluded his Brandeis career with a fourth-place showing in the saber division of the 2000 NCAA Championships, he has gradually moved up the U.S. saber totem pole. In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he qualified for the U.S. team as an alternate but did not compete as the U.S. team fell just short of earning a medal.

This time, Morehouse continued to improve and qualified in April as the second-rated U.S. fencer behind Smart. The U.S. squad was the seventh seed in the team saber competition, but after upsetting second-seeded Hungary in the quarterfinals, they extracted revenge against third-seeded Russia-Russia had defeated the U.S. in the bronze medal match by the identical 45-44 mark in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens-staging a furious rally to win and advance to the gold medal match against France. The silver medal represents the highest-ever Olympic finish in the men's team saber competition.

"We came so close [in 2004], and you have to wait four years to get another shot, so to actually come through by one point this time is the most unbelievable feeling in the world," Morehouse said.

Four years after being on the strip at the end of two 45-44 defeats that cost the U.S. a medal, Smart got his redemption, completing the team's comeback in both the quarterfinal win over Hungary and the semifinal win over Russia. Against Russia, however, it was Morehouse who pointed the squad in the right direction.

Trailing 35-28 with two bouts to go, Morehouse faced Alexey Yakimenko, who was ranked as the top saber in the world during a stretch in June, 2007. Needing to cut into the deficit, Morehouse was able to win his bout 7-5 to cut Russia's lead to five touches going into the final match. Smart eventually won his bout 10-4 to complete the comeback.

Overall, Morehouse registered 13 of the team's 45 touches against Hungary and 17 against Russia. He had a winning record against Russia and played a major role in the victory.

"Sometimes he won his bout, sometimes he lost, but the score was always close," said Brandeis fencing coach Bill Shipman, who coached Morehouse during his time at Brandeis. "He never got blown away, so obviously that's a big contribution. Sometimes, he was very much on the positive side."

As Smart registered the final touch, Morehouse, like the rest of his team, was overcome with emotion. In 2004, it was Morehouse who was seen consoling Smart after Smart failed to hold a 40-35 lead going into the final bout of the bronze-medal match against Russia. This time, Morehouse claimed he initially fainted, but after blacking out for "three to five seconds," he was right there to celebrate with his teammates.

"I think I utilized more emotional energy than actual energy fencing," Morehouse said.

Morehouse also competed in the individual saber tournament, but was not as successful, falling to France's Boris Sanson 15-12 in the second round after receiving a bye for the first round. Morehouse jumped ahead 7-3 and had a 12-11 lead but could not hold on.

In the days that followed the silver-medal performance in the team competition, Morehouse has granted countless interviews but always finds a way to credit his Brandeis experience both on and off the strip. He was not highly regarded coming out of high school, but he came to Brandeis and qualified for three NCAA Championships during his career. Since then, he kicked his training up a notch, all while working for Teach for America, first as a teacher and then as an administrator.

"If I can come from a Division III school and win a silver medal in the Olympics, there isn't anything you can't do with a Brandeis education that you set your mind to do," he said.

Morehouse's success will not only have an impact on the athletic program but also the University as a whole, said Shipman. Besides increasing the name recognition of the Brandeis fencing team, Shipman said Morehouse's Olympic journey might convince onlookers to view Brandeis in a different light.

"Brandeis has a great academic reputation, but now we're being seen in the papers and the news in a different area where we've never been before," Shipman said. "People will see the name and think of [Brandeis] a little bit differently.