He began fencing at age 9.[1] At age 19, he won the junior national championships in Yugoslavia in épée, foil, and sabre. He received a degree in architecture from the University of Belgrade.[2] He worked as a product designer on weekdays and coached fencing at night and on weekends.
He coached Nick Bravin who competed in the 1992[8] and 1996 Olympics.[9] In 2013, three of his students were selected for the 18-member US National Junior Fencing Team.[10] One of them, Eli Dershwitz, became the youngest-ever national champion in sabre,[11] and went on to win gold medals in the Junior World Championship (2015) and twice in the Pan American Championships (2014 and 2015).[12] In 2014, USA Fencing appointed him head coach of the U.S. Men’s Saber Team.[13] Zeta Fencing, was ranked number one of the USFA Clubs at Cadet & Junior World Championships, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 2015 with members of the club contributing 192.25 points to the US score.[14]
References
^Whelan, Tim - Jr. (2015-11-22). "The Beat: Natick's Zeta Fencing truly a home of champions". MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA. Retrieved 2015-12-06. I started fencing when I was nine, but I also did Greco-Roman wrestling, boxing, sailing, soccer goalie, ice hockey goalie, scuba diving...
^"Four Stanford coaches to head Olympic teams". Stanford University News Service (Press release). 1996-07-15. Retrieved 2015-05-02. Fencing coach Zoran Tulum, who competed in saber for his native Yugloslavia [sic] in the 1980 Olympics...
^Associated Press (1996-06-28). "Olympics: 21 Days to the Games : Miscellany". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-05-02. Zoran Tulum of Stanford was among the coaches selected for the U.S. Olympic fencing team in Colorado Springs, Colo.
^Lazdowski, Paul (2013-03-21). "Three Greater Boston teens make national fencing squad". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2015-05-03. [Eli] Dershwitz, [Andrew] Mackiewicz, and [Alex] House ... were named to the 18-member US National Junior Fencing Team
^Larson, Craig (2015-04-26). "Sherborn's Eli Dershwitz repeats as Pan American champion in Sabre". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2015-05-03. ...World Championship title, Sherborn teen Eli Dershwitz returned to the medal podium Monday in Santiago, Chile. ... defended his Pan American title and won the individual gold medal for the second year in a row
^Jomantas, Nicole (2014-01-07). "Zoran Tulum Named Men's Saber National Team Coach". USA Fencing. Retrieved 2015-05-03. Zoran Tulum (Natick, Mass.) has been named as the head coach of the U.S. Men's Saber Team.