Hometown Headliners
Material for Headliners vignettes was gathered from various sources including Wikipedia,IMDB, SRU Athletics, the New York Times and the University of Michigan.
Aug. 7, 1970 - Jan. 11, 2006Eric Namesnik was a competitive swimmer that was born in Butler on Aug. 7, 1970.Namesnik swam for the Butler YMCA swim team as a child.After graduating from Spanish River High in Boca Raton, Fla., Namesnik attended the University of Michigan from 1989 to 1993.Namesnik represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ga. At the 1992 Olympics, Namesnik won a silver medal in the men's 400-meter individual medley.He again won silver at the 1996 Olympics in the same event.He won two silver medals at the 1991 world meet and a bronze at the 1994 world championships.He set the American record in the 400-meter individual medley on four occasions.Namesnik spent several years as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.He died in 2006 from injuries suffered during a car accident on an icy road in Michigan.
Sept. 3, 1968Butler native David Pichler is a former Olympic diver, having represented the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.Pinchler graduated from Butler Senior High School in 1987 and Ohio State University. He was inducted into the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.After making the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, Pinchler entered into public, a years-long feud with his former coach, Ron O'Brien, claiming O'Brien had abused and harassed him.Despite this, Pinchler went on to be named the U.S. Diving Team's captain at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won both the 10-meter platform and synchronized platform titles at the 2000 U.S. National Diving Championships.
