Visit the Worcester Telegram & Gazette Web site to read the newspaper's June 29 lead Front Page story, "Olympic dream becomes reality: West Brookfield's Piermarini is Beijing-bound."


Class of 2000 Worcester Academy alumnus Wesley "Wes" Piermarini will represent the United States as an Olympic rower when the 2008 Olympic Games get under way in Beijing in August.

Wes joins a long list of distinguished Worcester Academy alumni and students who have represented the United States at the Olympics, including Bill Toomey (Class of 1957), the Gold Medal decathlon winner in Mexico City in 1968.

Piermarini's Olympic bid also marks the 100th Anniversary of WA representation in the Olympics.  The first alumnus to participate was Charles French (Class of 1905), who ran the 300-yard dash at the London Olympics in 1908.

(A list of WA Olympians follows below)

Wes, a 2004 graduate of UMass, qualified for the games (along with teammate Elliot Hovey) during mens double crew finals in West Windsor, NJ, June 12.  He is set to leave for Beijing on July 25 and head home on Aug. 25, a day after the closing ceremonies.

(See the schedule of events online for the 2008 Olympics, Aug. 8-24)

While at Worcester Academy, Piermarini was a member of the water polo, soccer, track, and ski teams, and was a member of the comedy club.

Interestingly, Worcester Academy did not have a crew team when Wes Piermarini attended. However, the school relaunched crew as a varsity sport this spring, re-establishing the program for the first time in more than three decades. The WA team now practices out of the Donahue Rowing Center in Shrewsbury on Lake Quinsigamond.

According to the UMass Athletics Website, Piermarini is a three-time New England Gold Medalist.  He has won the ECAC's National Regatta, won bronze at the IRAs, and competed in the Henley Royal Regatta, while rowing for UMass.  He has also won the Canadian Henley, in both sweep and sculling events.

A current master of architecture student at UMass, he is on leave of absence from his studies while training for the Olympics.

ALUMNUS COACHING IN OLYMPIC TRIALS

Assistant coach Michael Malone of Cleveland's Cavaliers (an alumnus of Worcester Academy, Class of 1989) was recently named an assistant coach for the Canadian National Basketball Team. The team is vying for a spot at the Beijing Olympics, but must still qualify at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men in Greece, July 15-20.

Malone is a former assistant coach with the New York Knicks, and previously coached at the college level, including Manhattan College, the University of Virginia, Providence College, and Oakland (MI) University. He played college basketball at Loyola College (MD) and graduated with a BA degree in 1994.

While at Worcester Academy, he was a member of the varsity basketball team.

WORCESTER ACADEMY OLYMPIANS

The following is a list of Worcester Academy alumni and students athletes who have competed in past Olympics (information on which athletes won medals is incomplete; those KNOWN to be medal winners are identified as such).  Worcester Academy alumni who have served as Olympic coaches also follows.

Olympic athletes:
Jeff Bannister '65, Decathlon, Munich 1972
Bill Toomey '57, Decathlon, Mexico City 1968 (GOLD MEDAL)
John D. Clarke '45, Lacrosse, London 1948
Nevin Harkness '39, Lacrosse, London 1948
Basil Francis '36, Breast Stroke, Los Angeles 1932  
Charles Proctor '24, Ski-jump, St. Moritz 1928
Bill Comins '21, Broad Jump, Paris 1924 (BRONZE MEDAL)
Willard Tibbetts '22, Track, Paris 1924 (BRONZE MEDAL)
J. Oliver Johnstone '12, High Jump, Stockholm 1912
L. A. Whitney '10, Shot put, Stockholm 1912 (MEDAL WINNER)
Charles French '05, 300-Yard Dash, London 1908

Olympic coaches:
Donald "Dee" Rowe '47, Basketball, Moscow 1980 (U.S. team did not actually attend, as games were boycotted by President Jimmy Carter)
Donn Nelson '82, Basketball, Atlanta 1996