Former Vaulter Wins Survivor

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv ... epage-mezz

'Bravest' is the best
Brooklyn firefighter and Sayville resident outwits, outlasts and outplays 19 others to cop ‘Survivor’ title

May 16, 2005

BY VERNE GAY
STAFF WRITER

May 16, 2005


Chalk up a nice one for the FDNY: Tom Westman, the 41-year-old Brooklyn firefighter from Sayville who was considered a long shot when "Survivor: Palau" began in February, beat the odds -- and 19 other contestants -- by winning CBS's top-rated reality show last night.

And Westman also becomes the first New Yorker to win the show, which wrapped its 10th edition and is just short of its fifth year on the air.

"Judge me on who I was," he told the "jury" composed of seven former contestants who were deciding whether to hand him a check for $1 million just before 10 last night. "I came out and played real hard ... and never had a nasty word for any of you."

Well that was a bit of a whopper, but Westman also demonstrated that he was one of the game's best players over 10 editions. He was particularly skillful at "immunity" challenges -- the key part of the game that determines whether a player can be voted off -- and he won most of them convincingly.

Indeed, so convincingly that the tribe he belonged to, so-called Koror, ended up winning challenge after challenge until the competing team was whittled down to just one member -- a "Survivor" first.

Nevertheless, Westman's success also made him a fat target, because traditionally, the strongest players are voted off in early rounds. But Westman never gave anyone the chance.

Last night's victory came during an emotional vote held live at the Ed Sullivan Theater, with members of Westman's family present -- his wife, Bernadette, and their three children, Meghan, 8, Declan, 6, and Conor, 4.

There was also a live satellite feed of his colleagues from Ladder Co. 108, where he's a lieutenant.

For a show that sometimes has drama -- and sometimes has zip -- the "Palau" edition had more of the latter.

Westman aced last night's first immunity, a typically convoluted challenge that entailed tires, flags, padlocks and poles (don't ask ... please). That meant he was safe from getting voted out by the other three contestants. The final immunity challenge was one of those horrible torture/endurance affairs which the "Survivor" producers are particularly fond of. The three finalists -- Ian Rosenberger, the passionate, tall, skinny kid from Ambridge, Pa., and Katie Gallagher, from Merced, Calif. -- were forced to grasp a pole that was set on three barrels floating in a lagoon. The hours passed, the legs got tired, and -- bizarrely -- before he fell, Rosenberger told Westman to pick Gallagher (who had already fallen off) to go to the final council. He did, and it was down to two.

Born in Queens, Westman was a graduate of Archbishop Molloy High School, where he was a member of the track team and -- according to CBS' bio -- also set the school record in the pole vault (14' 6") in 1982, which was not broken until just three years ago. And last night, Westman held on to a pole to win. Just another curious factoid from the world of "Survivor."

[Scott Go Pre]

Yay Tom! I thought it was either going to be him or Ian -- before he made that deal to vote himself off.

[LancerVaulter07]

wow, i didn't even know that show was still going on.
shows just about how much i watch tv anymore. but
anyway...just goes to show vaulters can do it all

[breaker]

first fear factor, now survivor... we're taking over the world i tell you