University of Massachusets Athletics
Former UMass Rower Wes Piermarini Headed To Olympics
June 13, 2008 | Rowing
June 13, 2008
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - UMass alum Wes Piermarini ('04) and partner Elliot Hovey rowed their way to a historic team victory on Thursday, qualifying for the Olympic Games in Beijing that start on Aug. 8. Along with completing his undergaduate degree at UMass, Piermarini is also a current Master of Architecture student on leave of absence while training for the Olympics. The memorable win capped off a week which began on Monday, June 8. Piermarini, a walk-on to the club team as a freshman, enjoyed much success while at UMass, learning both from his Head Coach Tony Cronin and current Women's Rowing Varsity Coach Jim Dietz.
When asked to describe his emotions, Piermarini was at a loss for words. "[It was] unbelievable, a fairy tale victory. It's hard to put into words," he said. "The whole way down the race course, in our minds, we knew we were going to do it. We happened to be leading the race, but even if we hadn't been, both of us were determined enough to pull it off regardless of whether we had been leading from the start or not. It felt fantastic to achieve such a goal and to have the opportunity to represent your country."
After winning in the semifinals on Tuesday, the pair was set for a best-of-3 final to conclude on Thursday or Friday. Piermarini and Hovey took care of business and punched their ticket to Beijing on Thursday, winning 2-0.
Piermarini owes much of his success to Dietz. "Jim Dietz helped me out quite a bit; he taught me how to scull. The rowing team at UMass is sweep rowing (one oar each). The event that I'm racing in at the Olympics is sculling, which is two oars per person."
Piermarini and Hovey plan on continuing to train in California while also racing in England at the Royal Henry Regatta. They will leave for Beijing on July 25 and head home on Aug. 25, one day after the closing ceremonies.
Success is not a new thing for Piermarini. While at UMass, he was a three-time New England Gold Medalist, won the ECACs National Regatta, won bronze at the IRAs, and competed in the Royal Henley Regatta. He also added a win at the Canadian Henley to his resume, winning both sweep and sculling events.
The path to success was unorthodox for Piermarini; rowing was a way to structure his day. "I don't know if I would have [started rowing] at a smaller school. I didn't want to get lost at such a big school. I wanted to make sure I stayed on track. At the beginning, that's all rowing was for me, something to structure my day because you had to get up at 5 a.m., so I couldn't be up late. I fell in love with it and kept it going."
And he has kept it going all the way to the ultimate goal, an opportunity to represent his country in the Olympics.
