This is the second in a series of nine articles profiling the 2012 inductees into the Butler High School Athletic Hall of Fame.Few swimmers ever hit the pool harder than Tom Turner.Well decorated during his careers at Butler High School and Syracuse University, the 1974 Golden Tornado graduate has gained induction into the Butler High School Athletic Hall of Fame.Turner will join eight other inductees at a recognition ceremony at 5 p.m. Sept. 14 in the high school cafeteria. The inductees will also be honored on the field prior to Butler’s home football game against Pine-Richland that night.“I’m ecstatic about this,” Turner said. “It was Friday the 13th when I got the call. I thought it was a joke at first.”Turner’s swimming career was far from a laughing matter.He won the WPIAL championship in the 200-yard freestyle in 1974, posting a time of one minute, 48.4 seconds. Turner also earned three second-place, two thirds, a fourth and seventh-place medal at the WPIAL meet during his prep career.But nothing felt as good as winning it.“I beat John Pyle of Bethel Park in that (200 freestyle) race and we were big rivals,” Turner said. “Bethel Park won the team championship and we were second.“I went on to Syracuse and he went to Maryland. I beat him at the Eastern Championships and again at nationals.”Turner was voted team MVP at Butler in 1973 and 1974. He had 149 first-place finishes in his high school career, 95 in individual events, 54 in relays. He set school records in the 200 and 500-yard freestyles, pool records in both as well.“I got started in swimming when I was 6,” Turner recalled. “My brother Johnny was two years older than me and I used to follow him to the YMCA. Before I knew it, I was swimming.“Johnny was captain of the high school team my freshman year. I wound up breaking his 400-yard freestyle school record that season.”Turner set more records at Syracuse. He was named the Orangemen’s Outstanding Swimmer in 1978. He set pool records in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley and 800-yard freestyle relay. He set team records in the latter two.Turner became a 16-time finalist at the Eastern Collegiate Championships. He qualified for nationals five times.Once Turner graduated from Syracuse, he was done with swimming except for a few masters events.During high school, he was in the water nine times a week for practice. That jumped to 12 times a week in college as the Orangemen practiced twice a day, six days a week.“It was almost a letdown when I was through with swimming,” Turner said. “It was like, what am I going to do now?“I found my outlet: Sales. I committed my best, day in and day out, to that field for 25 years before retiring in 2003.”Turner wound up in sales management. Since December, he has served as a case manager for Catholic Charities.Turner was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.