August 17 , 2005

Kent Smack '97 (foreground) is the stroke, or pacesetter, for the U.S. quadruple sculls team in the Athens Olympics. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

SCHINIAS, Greece–The U.S. men’s quadruple sculls won its repechage, or second-chance race, to advance to the semifinals of the Olympic rowing competition at the Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Center. A member of the Hobart College Class of 1997, Kent Smack is the stroke for the U.S. entry.

The men’s quadruple sculls crew of 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.

The U.S. struggled in their opening Olympics heat, finishing fourth out of five boats. The Americans' time of 5:50.61 was the 10th (out of 13) fastest of the opening heats.

The Athens Olympics official Web site, www.athens2004.com, called the repechages results, "a small surprise, as one of the favorites, France, did not make it to the semifinals."

An anthropology and sociology major at Hobart, Smack joined the Hobart crew after realizing his playing time for the Hobart lacrosse team would be limited. He served as a crew team captain and helped the Statesmen to the 1996 New York State Championship.

Currently living in Cambridge, Mass., with his wife, Amy Wettergreen Smack WS’96, Kent is a consultant for Balance Scorecard Collaborative Inc.

The information in this release includes excerpts from press releases written by NBCOlympics.com, USRowing.com and Athens2004.com.

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