Olympics
Former Husky Devine qualifies for Olympics

By Seattle Times news services

URS FLUEELER / AP Jennifer Devine, center, is flanked by runners-up Frida Svensson of Sweden, left, and Femke Dekker of the Netherlands yesterday.

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Seattle's Jennifer Devine has captured an Olympic berth in women's single sculls.

Devine, who graduated from the University of Washington but did not compete intercollegiately there, clocked a 7:43.09 to win the final in Lucerne, Switzerland, yesterday.

"I took a very atheistic view of my racing here," said Devine, a member of the Pocock Rowing Center. "I thought this was sort of the means to the end; and if there was an afterlife after Lucerne, I was happy to participate in that. If this was it, I was comfortable with that, and that's how I raced. That was my philosophy."

Devine, a native of Portland, led from start to finish, beating the Netherlands' Femke Dekker by 2.81 seconds.

It has been eight years since Devine made her first visit to the Olympic Games. In 1996, she qualified in the women's double sculls.

"Turn on the mental VCR and just remember everything," Devine said of the Olympics. "I think that there were things that I didn't make note of last time that I will pay better attention to this time. You know (the saying), 'Youth is wasted on the young,' well the Olympics is wasted on the young, too. I'm just going to focus on having a good time and just racing every race like it's the last race I'll ever have, because it may be."

The U.S. earned Olympic berths yesterday in Lucerne in the lightweight men's double sculls and the men's quadruple sculls. The U.S. now has 12 boats qualified for Athens, including the women's single sculls, men's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls, men's pair, women's pair, men's four, lightweight men's four, men's eight and women's eight.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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