La Salle University Athletics

After a successful two-year stint with the Explorers that included a Dad Vail championship in 1962 and a year with the varsity team as a sophomore, Cwiklinski earned fame as a member of the eight oar shell from Vesper Boat Club that won gold for the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Racing in heat one of the opening round at the Olympics, the group was narrowly edged out by Germany for the automatic qualification to the final by 28 hundredths of a second. The USA, with Cwiklinski rowing in three seat, was forced to row in the repechage round with its medal hopes riding in the balance. 

The second repechage featured crews from host Japan and South Korea, and Cwiklinski's crew easily won the race by nearly nine seconds to advance to the grand final.

Revenge was exacted against Germany, with the US clocking a time of 6:18.23 to finish five full seconds in front of their European rival to take gold.  

Following the win at the '64 Summer Games, Cwiklinski remained with Vesper and won a bronze medal at the European Championships the following year. He would go on to graduate from La Salle in 1966.

A 23-year active duty stint with the United States Navy ensued, including a year in Vietnam as skipper of a patrol boat engaged in numerous combat actions with the enemy. His career specialized in marine salvage, and his expertise was needed during the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in the late 1980's.