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Wilkinson ’11 and Bertko ’06 slip in respective Olympic rowing heats

Following a one-day delay due to weather conditions, Kate Bertko ’06 of team USA’s lightweight double sculls and Lauren Wilkinson ’11 of team Canada’s women’s eight failed to advance during preliminary heat competition on Monday. Fortunately, both will have favorable chances of redemption during their respective repechages on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Competing in the earlier of today’s races, Wilkinson and the rest of the Canadian team faced a talented crowd, including dominant teams USA and Great Britain. To be sure, the silver medalists from London had high hopes nonetheless.

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When all was said and done, team Canada finished fifth of seven teams, with the U.S. and Great Britain obtaining guaranteed advancement. As a result, Wilkinson will row in Wednesday’s repechage alongside Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia. Based on times from heat competition, the Canadians have favorable chances as all but one team will advance to the finals from the repechage.

Having won a silver medal four years ago and a bronze medal at last year’s world championships, Wilkinson will aim to complete the trio with a gold medal from Rio.

Later in the day, Bertko suffered a similar fate, missing guaranteed qualification into the lightweight double sculls semifinals. The silver lining for Bertko happens to be the narrow margin between her and the qualifiers. In fact, based on heat results, Bertko and her partner Devery Karz rank second among all twelve pairs competing in the repechage.

Bertko will have a shorter break than Wilkinson before her next race as the lightweight double scull repechage is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

As a Princetonian, Bertko contributed to the historic 2006 open women’s rowing season. That year, the Tigers posted a perfect 14-0 regular season record and reclaimed the NCAA championship for the first time in over a decade. On Tuesday morning, Bertko will aim to achieve the same dominant success as she did 10 years earlier.

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