Brett Wilkinson '98 Competes at the 2003 Rowing World Championships in Milan, Italy: Tenth in the World.

From WorldRowing.com

Five qualifying spots [for the 2004 Olympics in Athens] were available and all six boats remained in the running for all of the 2000 metres. But it was two time World Champions, Dr Haller and 22-year-old Tibor Petoe of Hungary that continued to make their comeback from injury by leading the field. Behind them Cuba's Yosebel Martinez and Yoennis Hernandez were battling with Estonia's Igor Kuzmin and Andrei Jamas. Only 400 metres of racing remained and these three crews were still locked together.

But the race was still unfolding. A slow starting Steve Gillespie and Brett Wilkinson of the United States, in their second year together, had finally discovered some boat speed and from last position were working their way past Norway, then Lithuania. In the final sprint all six boats overlapped as stroke rates shot into the high 40s. Another photo finish was needed with Hungary remaining in first, Cuba sprinting to second, Estonia holding on to third and the United States and Lithuania taking the remaining qualifying spots.

The men's double sculls duo of Steve Gillespie (Renton, Wash.) and Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.) finished fourth in a photo-finish for places four through six, earning the United States a berth in the 2004 Olympics. Gillespie and Wilkinson, who finished 13th in the event last year, sat in sixth position through the 1,500-meter mark but used every bit of their fastest final 500-meter split to take fourth place. The duo finished with a time of 6:28.07, 0.31 seconds ahead of fifth-place Lithuania and 0.36 seconds ahead of sixth-place Norway. Hungary won the B final in a time of 6:25.44. The U.S. finished in 10th place overall.