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Butler Elected Captain of U.S.A.`s Pan Am Games Team-Sailing
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| US Sailing - Pan American Games - Butler Elected Captain of U.S.A.`s Pan Am Games Team-Sailing |
| PORTSMOUTH, R.I. USA-(31-7-2003) Sailing’s wizard of boat repair, Carl
Eichenlaub (San Diego, Calif.), will have a prominent role in the opening
ceremonies of the XIV Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican
Republic. Eichenlaub was elected to represent the entire U.S. delegation --
640 athletes competing in 36 sports -- and will carry the U.S. flag into
Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Stadium on Friday evening, August 1, 2003. The
73-year young boat builder, who has been a mainstay of the U.S. Olympic
Sailing program for 27 years, made his first trip to the Pan Am Games in
1979 as the team’s Official Boatwright. While the trip to Santo Domingo
marks the seventh time he has accompanied sailors to the Pan Am Games,
Eichenlaub has also supported the U.S.A.’s Olympic Team-Sailing onsite at
six Olympic Regattas (’76, ’84, ’88, ’92, ’96 and 2000). His dedication to
the athletes was never more apparent than in 2000 when he suffered a broken
hip at the Athlete's Village in Sydney and maintained his duties while on
crutches. After a week of R&R at home in California, he returned to Sydney
to assist the athletes of the U.S.A.’s 2000 Paralympic Sailing Team.
Recognizing Eichenlaub’s outstanding contributions, US SAILING, national
governing body for the sport, awarded him its most prestigious award, the
Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, in 2000.
Eichenlaub typically travels to each event with a specially outfitted 40'
container that holds, among other things, a swedging machine, drill press,
compressors, as well as a microwave for curing resin. Frequently approached
by foreign athletes with damaged equipment, Eichenlaub seldom refuses a
request for assistance once his work for the U.S. team is complete.
Butler Elected Captain of U.S.A.’s Pan Am Games Team-Sailing
Marking another milestone in her sailing career is Lanee Butler (Aliso
Viejo, Calif.). Not only is Butler making her fourth appearance in the Pan
Am Games, she was elected by her fellow sailors as Captain of the U.S.A.’s
Pan Am Games Team-Sailing. The three-time Pan Am Games medallist in the
women’s boardsailing event (gold in ’99 and '91; bronze in '95), Butler is
also a three-time Olympian. Following the 2000 Olympics she took a break
from boardsailing to test the water in other ways most notably crewing
aboard Maiden II when it broke the 24-hour distance record in June of 2002.
Butler returned to the boardsailing scene with a sweep of the women’s
division at the 2003 Mistral Pan Am Trials and resumed her position at the
top of the rankings in the U.S.A.
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Source: Jan Harley, Media Pro |
