Tucker Murphy / ’95 The Olympian By Helen Jardine duringhisearlydaysatSaltus,Olympian athleteTuckerMurphyconfesseshe finished“nearlast”inseveralofthe School’srunningraces. Today,the28-year-oldis comingdownfromthehighof competinginthe2010Winter OlympicsinBritishColumbia, wherehefocussedhiseffortsona 15-kilometrecross-countryskirace. “Ispentalongtimepreparingfortheevent, buttriedtolessenmynervesbeforehandbytreating itsimilarlytoanyotherrace,”saysMurphy,thefirst BermudiantorepresenttheIslandintheevent, completingthemen’sfreestylecross-countryrace 88thoverall,in42minutes,39.1seconds. “Justasinotherraces,Itriedreachthelimits ofexhaustionwithoutlosingfluidtechnique,” Murphysays.“Attheend,IwashappythatIraced consistentlyandtothelevelofmyabilitiesand training,thoughIsupposeIalwayshopetodobetter —andthatisexactlywhatkeepsmemotivated. Obviously,thelevelofskillandprofessionalismof theotherskierswasquiteremarkable.” ForMurphy,carryingBermuda’sflagatthe openingceremonyrepresentedtheculminationof allhishardwork,aswellasthesupportfromfamily andtheBermudacommunity.Aftertheracewas over,hemadeithismissiontoexperienceasmuch oftheGamesaspossible. “Ihadtheopportunitytocatchupwithfriends fromtheskiingcircuitanddiscusstheexperience ofracingwithathletesfrommanypartsofthe world,”hesays.“It’snotoftenyouhavetheopportunitytoquestionaMoldovanonhowitfeelsto lineupattheOlympicstartline,oraskaGreek abouttraininginthemountainsbackhome.” Murphyhastrainedwithsomeoftheworld’s mostprestigiousskiprogrammes,includingnew Hampshire’sdartmouthCollegedevelopment teamandtheCraftsburyOutdoorCenter’s GreenRacingProject. HeleftSaltusin1995,whenhewas13,to 38 LAUREN JACOBS attendhighschoolinnewHampshire,graduating in’99.Hewentontostudybiologyandanthropology atdartmouth. MurphycreditsSaltuswithprovidinghimwith asolidfoundationforlaterpursuitsbypresenting bothacademicandathleticchallenges. “EarlyonatSaltus,Istartedoutinoneofthe slowerstreamedreadingclassesandfinishednear lastinsomeoftherunningraces,”hesaid.“Those experiencesprobablybenefittedmelater,asI learnedtoworkhard.AtSaltus,Ialsofoundthe encouragementofafewteachersmadeabig differencetowhatIconsideredtobepossible.” MurphyhasreturnedtotheuKtocompletehis doctoratedegreeinzoologyasaRhodesScholarat Oxforduniversity. “Havingafewdifferentinterestsatoncehelps keeplifestimulating,”hesays.“Thehardestpartsof bothcross-countryskiingandfieldbiologyisbeing awayfromclosefriendsandfamilywhohavebeen acentralforceshapingmyvaluesandencouraging metopursueafewquixoticdreams.” ‘Early on at Saltus, I learned to work hard’ S A LT U S M A G A Z I N E