Simon Alumnus Wins Gold at Beijing

Dominic Seiterle ’05S (MBA), an Olympian whose earlier quests for a medal were interrupted while he was treated for thyroid cancer and a rare blood infection, has won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics as part of a Canadian rowing team.

Seiterle, of Victoria, Canada, and his teammates led from the start in the eight-man finals, crossing the line in 5:23.89 minutes, ahead of the silver medalists Great Britain and the bronze medalists United States.

A native of Montreal, Sierterle was an undergraduate at Dartmouth in 1997 and was preparing to make Canada’s Olympic rowing team when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After treatment, he earned a spot on the men’s double scull team for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he placed 13th.

A blood infection forced him out of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but he recovered to win the World Rowing Cup in 2007.

As a student at the Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, Seiterle embarked on what he called the “Lake Ontario Solo Rowing Challenge,” in which he rowed about 130 kilometers (about 81 miles) across Lake Ontario, from Rochester to Kingston, to raise money for the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at the University and for Camp Trillium, a support program for children with cancer in Ontario.

“I now know the level of stamina and motivation that’s necessary to compete at the Olympic level is similar to the perseverance those with cancer must draw upon every day to fight their disease,” Seiterle said before setting on his trek.

Sierterle’s teammates in the Olympic eights were coxswain Brian Price of Kingston, Kyle Hamilton of Richmond, B.C., Adam Kreek of London, Ont., Malcolm Howard of Victoria, Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, Ben Rutledge of Cranbrook, B.C., Jake Wetzel of Saskatoon, and Kevin Light of Sidney, B.C.