Men's Quadruple Sculls Finishes in 11th Overall

From USRowing.com

The men's quadruple sculls crew of Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) finished fifth in B final and 11th overall. The crew clocked a 6:07.83 to edge out Great Britain by 0.04 seconds. Australia won the B final in a 6:02.31.

Men's Quad Comes Up Short in Semifinal

From USRowing.com

The men's quadruple sculls crew of Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) finished fifth in the second of two semifinals and now will race in the B final on Saturday. The quartet got off the line well and sat in third position at the 500-meter mark, but the field, which included four crews that had won medals at world cup stops earlier this year, was a little too tough as the Americans dropped back to fifth position at the midway point of the race. The Czech Republic won the race in a time of 5:42.73, with Russia and Belarus finishing second and third, respectively. The U.S. crew stroked a 5:46.65 to finish 3.92 seconds behind the Czech Republic. In the first semifinal, Poland, Germany, and the Ukraine took the top three positions.

Brett's Quad Makes the Semifinals

From USRowing.com

The men's quadruple sculls crew of Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) clocked a 5:46.54 to win its repechage and advance to Thursday's semifinals. The crew led at each of the 500-meter splits, pulling away from Switzerland to win by 1.40 seconds. With the top three crews moving on to the semifinals, Switzerland and Great Britain also advanced. The U.S. now will race in the second of two semifinals against Switzerland, Belarus, Russia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic on Thursday. The top three finishers in each semifinal will advance to the final.

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Photos from Athens

Wilkinson's First Olympic Race - The Heats

In rough conditions with a strong tailwind the men's quadruple sculls finished their heat in fourth place which sends them to the repechage (a second chance race providing them with another opportunity to qualify for the semifinals).

From USRowing.com

Racing in the first of three heats, the men's quadruple sculls crew of first-time Olympians Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) finished fourth and will now race in a repechage tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. The crew clocked a 5:50.51 to finish 7.44 seconds behind the heat winners from Germany. The German crew clocked a 5:43.17. With the top three finishers advancing directly to the semifinals, Estonia and Australia also advanced out of the first heat. Other crews advancing directly to the semifinals included heat winners Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as Russia, Italy, Belarus, and the Ukraine.

Racing continues with repechages on Tuesday, while semifinals will be held Wednesday and Thursday. Finals will be held Saturday and Sunday, August 21-22. Monday's repechages have been postponed until Tuesday. Tuesday's race schedule will be determined on Monday at 1 p.m. local time with the goal of racing all repechages on Tuesday.

A Bucknell Alumnus' Dream is Coming True

On Sunday, August 15, Brett Wilkinson '98, Bucknell's third Olympian, hits the water for his first race in Athens. He will be competing in the men's quadruple sculls. Row2K.com reports that "Racing in the first of three heats, the men's quadruple sculls crew of Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) will race against Germany, Australia, Switzerland, and Estonia. Australia is coming off a victory in Lucerne, while Germany won the world championships last year. The top three finishers in each heat move on to the semifinals, while the remaining crews head to the repechages."

On this site we will be posting daily updates of Brett's results and when possible share photos from Athens. Additional news, discussions, and possible postings from Brett can be found in the community section of this site.

For more information about Brett and the rowing in Athens, explore the sites listed below:

Link to Row2K's Interview with Brett Wilkinson '98

Link to Row2K.com's Olympic Coverage

Link to Olympic Rowing TV Schedule

Link to NBC.com's Olympic Coverage

Link to WorldRowing.com's Olympic Coverage

Brett Wilkinson '98 Qualifies for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens

On July 15 in Lucerne, Switzerland, Brett Wilkinson '98 qualified for the US National Team and will compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Brett will be competing in the men's quadruple sculls. Brett also represented the United States in the last two World Championships, both years rowing in the men's double sculls. He is the second Bucknell rower to compete in the Olympics and among several alumni who have been on the United States National Team. Cindy Ryder Matthes '88 competed in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

For photos and information on Bucknell Crew alumni who have rowed or coached for the United States National Team, click here.

For the past several months Brett has been keeping an online journal within the BCA Community Forum. Click here to read about his road to Athens.

Below is the press release from USRowing, the national governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States.

LUCERNE, Switzerland - The U.S. lightweight men's double sculls and men's quadruple sculls earned spots in the 2004 Olympic Games. With only six boats entered, the men's quadruple sculls quartet of Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), Sloan DuRoss (Old Orchard Beach, Maine), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) did not have a heat in which to test its speed. The crew had one race to get it right and it did, finishing second and qualifying for the Games. The crew got off the line fast and challenged the Ukraine through the 1,000-meter mark before comfortably coming home in second place. Ukraine won the race, clocking a time of 5:51.03. The U.S. finished in a 5:56.30, more than five seconds ahead of third-place Belgium. "Six months ago, none of us had ever rowed together," Smack said. "...We worked very hard on our start and the first 1,000 (meters). By the time 1,000 came around, we really felt we controlled the race (for a qualifying spot) and that we could take it home from there."

Following the race, Brett shared some of his thoughts...

..on qualifying for the Games
"It's great. The boat is really rowing well together. It kind of got put together at the last minute. We had been rowing in doubles all year. The four of us were all rowing in different boats. We have a lot of sculling experience, in general, with all of us being single scullers for the last four years. It's been a great month for us with everyone really meshing together well."

...on how tough it was to have only a final and no heats
"It is difficult, but all of us have a lot of experience racing internationally, so it's not a big deal. It's just like going out and trying to win the heat. In this case, we could come in second and still go on. We did a piece a couple of days ago and (no heat) was not a factor."

..on his high school having three Olympians in the last four Olympics
"I think so. I know for a fact one was (rower) Pat Manning. He was an inspiration for me when I was at FDR High School. When I was a sophomore, seeing a guy from my high school go on to win a silver medal showed me that I at least had a shot of getting there. I graduated college six years ago and high school 10 years ago. Each year, I've just increased my goals a little more."