On Tap with ... Nate Sulat

Nate Sulat ’11 is an epeeist for the men’s fencing team. He placed fifth at the 2008 NCAA Regional tournament and 19th in the 2009 NCAA Regional tournament. At the recent Garret Open in State College, Pa., Sulat took ninth place in a field of 58 competitors.

Q: What was your “welcome to college” moment?

A: The first dual-meet match I fenced in was against Harvard. It was a non-conference match, but the epee squad lost 8-1. I had recently won a North American Cup circuit event for under-20s, so getting destroyed by Harvard definitely made me realize that I still had work to do.

Q: What’s the greatest highlight of your sports career?

A: When I was 15, I was fencing in an international event in Montreal and tweaked my knee pretty badly in an overtime bout. Not only did I end up winning that bout, but I also won the next one and eventually placed third. It’s my only international medal, and to do it on a busted leg was even sweeter.

Q: Who’s your quirkiest teammate?

A: My initial thought is Cooper Gegan [’12]. The dude doesn’t eat or sleep. He just buys trendy shoes, listens to techno and wears dark sunglasses. That said, fencing’s a pretty quirky sport, so any of us could have won.

Q: What has been your most embarrassing moment at Princeton?

A: It was totally unrelated to sports. I assumed in a seminar class that Richard Nixon was a Democrat. I should probably learn how to keep my mouth shut.

Q: What’s the best part about being an athlete on campus?

A: Nothing stands out. I mean, come on, we’re talking about fencing.

Q: What’s the worst part about being an athlete on campus?

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A: It’s not practicing. It’s having your non-athlete friends brag about how they took a two-hour nap while you were practicing.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not practicing?

A: I love watching sports. I’m a big fan of soccer, but, honestly, I’d watch snails race if you painted numbers onto them. Oh, and spending time with my girlfriend. You think I’ll get any brownie points for that?

Q: If not fencing, what other sport would you play?

A: Let’s be honest: I don’t have the athletic ability to play any other sport. If I could magically give myself the ability to play another sport, I’d be a soccer goalie. Or the next Lebron James. That would be pretty sweet, too.

Q: What’s your funniest story about your head coach?

A: Our head coach, Zoltan Dudas, is a native Hungarian speaker. His English is fine, except that he’ll use some words incorrectly. The big one is “theoretically.” He’ll say things like “theoretically, we are fencing five touch bouts now” or “theoretically, you can or you can.” That’s always pretty funny.

Q: Is there any music in particular that inspires you?

A: I really like listening to D12 and Tupac before I fence. I like a strong bassline. It gets my heart pounding. I’ll also listen to hard rock, like Taproot or Sevendust.

Q: What’s the most embarrassing song on your iPod?

A: Song? Bro, I got a playlist of embarrassing songs. It’s called “Embarrassing.” I got “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin,” a techno remix of Hava Nagila and “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado. The sad thing is that that’s just brushing the surface.