Fencing's carving path towards Olympic dream by Patwant Singh (Today Online, Saturday July 17 2010) SINGAPORE - As a young boy, German Ralf Bissdorf set off from his hometown of Heideheim, with a population of just 50,000, to scale the summit of the fencing world. An Olympic silver in the foil at the 2000 Sydney Games and 11 world titles later, the 38-year-old is out to prove that tiny Singapore, which is no stranger

And he is giving himself up to a decade to deliver.

Speaking exclusively to MediaCorp recently, the lanky German, a technical director with Z Fencing, a private club here with 700 students, said: "The Singapore fencers are at the same stage I used to be 20 years ago, so I am going on the same journey again, albeit in a different capacity, and I'm convinced it is possible."

Z Fencing's founder, TK Wong, has so much faith in the project that he has set aside $3 million to put in place a system to realise the dream.

"Our goal is to go for gold. Z Fencing's dream is ambitious, but we believe it's reachable," he said.

"We started planning two years ago, after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and decided to bring in people who have experienced the Olympic journey because that kind of expertise and experience is very important.

"So we scoured the world and found Ralf."

The German will first be with the club full-time for a year and then part-time after that.

He is already pleased with the facilities and the potential pool here.

"We have kids at the age of 16, 17 who are very talented and another bunch of kids who are a little bit younger. We need 10 years to groom them and deliver," he said.

The club said they are already in talks with the national sports association and other parties to ensure its Olympic vision is realised.

Nicole Wong, 12, who aspires to be an Olympian someday, said she is convinced the Republic would be able to produce a world-class fencer.

"I'm sure one of us Singaporeans will be able to make it. Z Fencing has asked us to be committed and we have to be very determined, so nothing can stand in your way," she said.

The club have already begun to build the youngsters' dreams, with 20 national fencers under their wing and two - Justin Ong and Rania Rahardja - who will represent Singapore at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games from Aug 14 to 26.