WINNER AT POOLS AND POLLS "Tom Wilkens, a bronze-medal winner in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, has emerged a winner in his first venture into politics. Wilkens, a 29-year-old Republican, earned a three-year term on the Middletown, N.J., township council Tuesday, leading all candidates with 10,846 votes. A Stanford graduate and captain of the United States team at the 2003 world championships, Wilkens was one of the nation's most honored swimmers, taking 17 gold medals in the United States national championships from 1996 through 2003. Elliott Denman SPORTS BRIEFING: SWIMMING"