Vitali Nazlimov had never set foot in this country before August.

One would think that this would put him at a serious disadvantage. However, this 21-year-old from Moscow has managed to complete his first semester at Penn State with a 4.0 and maintain a rigorous fencing schedule for the fencing team.

When he arrived in the Penn State fencing room, he was very careful of what he said and how he behaved.

"Now he is absolutely a different kid," Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "I do believe he is getting along with the team really well."

Since he gets psyched up for competitions and motivates the team, Nazlimov usually is the first to fight a bout during meets.

Tomorrow, Nazlimov and the rest of the men's fencing team (13-0) will face Columbia, Hunter and Haverford; the women's team (12-0) will meet Columbia, Temple and Hunter. This weekend's competitions are the teams' final dual meets of the season.

Nazlimov has spent a decade fencing and has obtained numerous high achievements in his sport.

"For me the best one was the Soviet Union Junior Championship," he said.

Nazlimov took third place in the competition, which was quite an achievement considering he was competing against some of the toughest fencers in the Soviet Union.

Nazlimov also achieved the position of being one of the top 48 fencers in the world when he competed against sabre contestants from around the globe at the World Cup Tournament in Moscow.

While fulfilling a two-year army obligation, which was mandatory for all 18-year-olds in the Soviet Union, Nazlimov was put in a special regimen where he was able to fence with the Central Sports Army Club team. This team consisted of several experienced fencers which make up 40 percent of the national team. He even took first place at the Soviet Army Championships.

Since he began fencing for Penn State, Nazlimov has won 28 bouts and lost only one. The one bout he lost was last weekend against Yale, the only team to have beaten Penn State in the last year.

Nazlimov also won two preseason competitions, the Temple Open and the Penn State Open, each with his preferred weapon -- the sabre. This past January, Nazlimov was sixth at the North American Circuit competition.

"It meant that if I were an American I would have a good chance to make the national team," Nazlimov said.

"So far he shows a very good attitude during the competition. . . . He fences with a lot of diligence and dedication," Kaidanov said.

Nazlimov posesses a "gentle power" while fencing, Kaidanov said. He respects every opponent that he faces and he respects the decisions of the officials.

Nazlimov has a long history in the sport of fencing. His father was an Olympic Champion and is now one of the top fencing coaches in the Soviet Union. As a result, Nazlimov has had a lot of exposure to fencing.

However, before Nazlimov began fencing 10 years ago, his sport of choice was tennis. One day he was in a fencing room in Moscow when his first fencing coach met him and told him to come to practice the following day.

He did, and he has been fencing sabre ever since.

One of the attractions of fencing for Nazlimov was the challenge the sport presents.

"Nobody knows the recipe for fencing," Nazlimov said. If the "recipe" was known everyone would be a championship fencer, he said.

Part of the challenge of the sport also comes from Nazlimov's father.

"I was always mad because he never worked with me," Nazlimov said.

Often, when Nazlimov would become frustrated with fencing he would go to his father. His father's response was usually that if Nazlimov wasn't interested enough he should just quit. After these conversations the younger Nazlimov became even more determined and the sport became a greater challenge. He would always end up back in the fencing room.

In the Soviet Union an athlete must spend the majority of the time working on his sport. Nazlimov spent all but his final year in high school fencing. During his final year of high school Nazlimov's parents found out that he had a good chance at getting into a college. As a result Nazlimov had to devote his time to his education.

During his first year of college, Nazlimov fenced. Then he spent two years in the army.

When Nazlimov returned to the Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow to continue his college education, he did not compete in fencing. He was not allowed to compete and continue his education at the same time. Therefore, he decided to work on his academics and fence only in his spare time.

Nazlimov noticed a difference in attitudes toward fencing when he entered Penn State last fall.

"Here it is amateur. In the Soviet Union it is taken professionally," Nazlimov said.

In the United States, Nazlimov said, a fencer has to maintain a job to support himself before he can fence.

He explained that in the Soviet Union being a good fencer is a way to make a living. Good fencers are supported by the state so the athlete does not have to worry about maintaining a job. For the athlete it is a way up in society.

One of the benefits of being trained in the Soviet Union is that the state sponsors trips for the fencers so they can improve their sport. For example, one month is spent training near the Black Sea. Another month is spent in Mexico in the mountains. Half of the time is spent practicing on top of the mountains and the other half is spent practicing in the valleys. The object of this is to get used to competing at different altitudes so the fencers will be stronger.

"He had an opportunity to fence against strong opponents," Kaidanov said, adding this type of training is a factor in Nazlimov's success.