Welcome Home, Olympian: Holmes '11 Returns to NCS

On Friday, NCS students welcomed back to campus Olympic fencer Kat Holmes '11 and eagerly asked her questions about her experience competing for the United States in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
 
Holmes came to NCS one day after President Obama welcomed her and other Team USA athletes to the White House. Only six years removed from her senior year at NCS, the Dream Teamer admitted it was "kind of surreal" to be addressing an assembly so soon after participating in them.
 
Holmes told the Lower School how, inspired by Tamora Pierce's book series "Song of the Lioness," she started fencing in 4th grade. "I'd never done anything that I just loved so much, and I wasn't even really that good at it at first," she said, adding, "The more I did it, the better I became." She also talked about the U.S. athletes she'd met in Rio, including Michael Phelps, whom she ran into—literally—on her way to lunch one day.
 
The Middle School heard about Holmes's decision to fully commit to Olympic qualifying, which required her to put her college education on hold for two years and devote herself to 18 months of competitions and training that included daily five-mile runs. She also sat down with Honor Johnson '22 to discuss junior fencing.
 
And she detailed for the Upper School her road to Rio—what she jokingly called "How to Become an Olympian 101."
 
Holmes's remarks, though, touched something universal. In explaining her process for achieving the dream of a lifetime, she made clear that desiring a goal is only the start; accomplishment also requires a "melding of mind, heart and soul."
 
"When it comes down to one point ... you have to have the full belief that you can get that point, that you can win, that you are the champion of that moment," Holmes said. "Even if you believe, you may not get the point and things may not work out. But I can promise you that they sure won't work out if you don't at least believe they will. That is what makes a champion."
 
Holmes's Olympic experience did not end as she had hoped: She lost in overtime in the round of 32 in women's epee fencing, and in team fencing, the United States fell to eventual gold medalist Romania before rallying to win the next two matches and take fifth place.
 
Yet she told the students that "I fenced well, the best I ever have, in fact," and she said that "I know ... there is nothing more I could have done."
 
Holmes is now returning to Princeton University to resume her studies in neuroscience. She is also looking ahead to 2020 and planning her return to the Olympic strip, when the Games are held in Tokyo.
 
"I never ever want to go out asking, 'What if?' " Holmes said, adding, "I trained hard and accomplished a goal I know most can only dream of. But if I stop now, if I quit fencing now, I will always wonder, 'What if?' "
 
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    • Kat Holmes '11

    • Holmes takes a selfie with the Lower School.

    • Holmes addresses the Upper School.

    • Holmes with some of the many members of Team Holmes—from left, Mr. Maaia, Ms. Dent, Ms. Clevenger, Ms. Urick, and Ms. Sheeler.