Jon Ballack, Millennium Hall of Fame

Richard Dunn

For an elite swimmer like Jon Ballack, there were plenty of big

meets to remember, including the 1985 NCAA Championships and ’84 U.S.

Olympic Trials.

But no meet can match the exhilaration of the CIF Southern Section 4-A

Finals in 1983, when a large portion of the Newport Harbor High student

body supported him in his quest to win CIF titles in the 100-yard

backstroke and 100 butterfly.

In Ballack’s specialty -- the backstroke -- he swam the best time in the

nation that year (51.35), which, at the time, was the second-quickest

mark in CIF history.

“That was the best feeling of my whole career, the CIF championship meet

(at East Los Angeles College),” Ballack said. “I’ve been to the NCAAs and

the Olympic Trials, but nothing was like the feeling I got from the CIF

finals.

“It’s almost unexplainable, because you’ve got (virtually) all the

student body there behind you in the stands, cheering you on. I get

chills now just thinking about it. It was pretty remarkable. Then, to

have won and swam the fastest time in the nation, it was kind of

special.”

Ballack is the only Newport-Mesa swimmer to ever win a CIF championship

in the boys backstroke in half a century, or since the stroke has been

contested.

He also won the CIF butterfly title in 50.82 to become the second

straight Sailor to capture that event at the CIF 4-A finals, following

Tom Harrison’s 1982 victory for Newport Harbor in 51.01.

“Newport Harbor was known at that time as a good aquatics school,” said

Ballack, a four-time All-American in high school. “It was kind of nice to

be part of a high school that put so much emphasis on aquatics. As a high

school student, it’s nice to be somewhat popular and successful in

sports, as opposed to football, which, during my years, didn’t have very

strong teams.”

Ballack, who grew up swimming mostly for the Mission Viejo Nadadores’

club team, put college on hold after Newport Harbor to train for the ’84

Los Angeles Olympic Games.

But Ballack didn’t make it out of the trials that year in Indianapolis.

“I was training well the whole year, and even had some career-best times,

but for some reason I just didn’t perform well at the Olympic Trials,”

Ballack said. “I don’t know if it was stress or what. You’ve got one

chance to make the team, and if you don’t swim the fastest at that

particular time, you don’t make it.

“I didn’t swim very fast in the prelims, and if you don’t make the finals

(at the trials), you can’t compete in the Olympics. You’ve got to finish

in first (or second) place. It’s hit or miss.

“I still watched all my buddies at the 1984 Olympics. I was there in the

stands (at USC), cheering them on.”

A member of the 1983 U.S. national team, Ballack landed at the University

of Hawaii, where he continued to excel in 1985, setting a Western

Athletic Conference record in the 200 backstroke in 1:48.3.

After a year at Hawaii, Ballack transferred to USC, where he swam for two

years and his “social life got a little carried away.”

Ballack eventually transferred to Long Beach State, where he finished

college and did not swim.

“I pretty much think I reached my potential (after competing at USC) and

got a little burned out, shall we say,” Ballack said. “I just got to the

point where I was putting in six hours of training every day, but wasn’t

necessarily improving, and that’s painful mentally.

“I made the decision at that point to put more time in academics and hang

up the Speedos. It was tough since I had been swimming my whole life.

That’s your identity. You’re not Jon the Swimmer anymore. You’re just

like any Joe blow. It was kind of a tough transition, being so

competitive into being an average person again.”

Never average in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, of which Ballack is

a member, the latest honoree to be featured resides in Redwood Shores,

about 30 minutes south of San Francisco, with his wife, Karen. The couple

was married in June 1998.