The stage was thus set for the foil finale.Going against Gerhardt, who had also been perfectfor the day, van Leeuwen got off to an early leadand never looked back. He won, 15-10.
"In those last two matches, I fenced betterthan I ever have in my life," he said. "It wasjsut an extremely rewarding experience--I'll neverforget it."
Van Leeuwen was a junior fencing champion priorto coming to Harvard, where he has been one of themost successful fencers in school history.
Still, he seemed to relish his newfound statusas a national champion as something special.
Asked what his plans are for the future, hegave the consummate answer of a champion.
"I'm going to Disneyworld," he said.