Troy Barnhart Jr.

Troy G. Barnhart Jr. (born May 22, 1971) is an American water polo player who competed for the University of California Berkeley. He participated in the men's tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Barnhart was born May 22, 1971, in Hartford, California, and initially played football for the Pop Warner Youth league as his primary sport. After ending his early football career after breaking his ankle, with the advice of his physician he began swimming with the Hanford Piranhas Recreational Swim team around his High School Sophomore year, and first took up water polo during the summer with the Hanford Summer Water Polo team. He attended Hanford High School in Hanford, California, where he played water polo for three years with their varsity team, beginning his Sophomore year. A multi-sport athlete, apart from his achievements in water polo, Barnhart set a Hanford High School record of 47.78 in the 100 freestyle swim. Graduating Hanford in 1989, Barnhart was a serious student, making the Principal's list for Hanford Union High around the end of his Junior year with a grade point average between 3.75 and 4.0 in July, 1988.

University of California Berkeley Barnhart attended the University of California Berkeley, graduating with a History major around 1994, where he played water polo under Varsity Water Polo Coach Steve Heaston, who coached water polo at Berkeley from 1989 to 1998. In 1993, Barnhart was voted a Player of the Year for Men's Varsity Collegiate Sports by the Collegiate Water Polo Association, in a year in which he scored a total of 70 points for the team. An exceptional program during his tenure, UC Berkeley's water polo team won two NCAA National championships during Barnhart's tenure as a player. Barnhart travelled as part of the US National team in 1994, after graduating the University of California around 1994. In 1995, he played professional water polo for a team in Sicily for around a year.

Marriage Troy married Carmen Tavares on July 9, 1994,

1996 Atlanta Olympics Barnhart participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia under Olympic water polo Head Coach Richard Corso for the American team that placed seventh overall in competition. Other former U. Cal Berkeley water polo players on the team included Gavin Arroyo, Chris Humbert, and Chris Oeding. The team from Spain took the gold medal, Croatia took the silver, and Italy took the bronze. Though generally a utility player in High School, meaning he could play a variety of positions, with the U.S. National team, he more frequently played in the 2-meter or center position. He continued to compete with the Olympic Club in 1999 with former water polo Olympians Jeremy Laster, Kirk Everist, and Craig Klass.

Careers Shortly prior to the Olympics in 1996, Barnhart coached water polo for the Junior Varsity team at his alma mater Hanford High School under former coach Coleman Montgomery, and did public relations work for USA Water polo. He wrote sports related articles for the LeMoore Advance newspapers that year.

Schoolteacher In 2001, Barnhart taught fifth grade, and in 2008, he continued as a sixth grade teacher at Akers Elementary, at the Lemoore Naval Air Station where he did some coaching as well. He also served as a water polo referee during his time teaching elementary school.

In 2004, Barnhart was elected to a school board position with the Kings-River Hardwick Elementary School District. His son Troy Joaquin Barnhart lettered in water polo and swimming for four years at Lemoore High School, and was accepted to play varsity water polo for Stanford University.