Ron "Stix" Ballatore (1941 – April 27, 2012) was an American college and international

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

coach. From 1978 to 1994, Ballatore was the head coach of the men's swimming and diving team at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(UCLA), where he coached his

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

swimmers to an NCAA national championship in 1982.Associated Press,
Ex-UCLA coach Ron Ballatore dies
" ESPN (April 27, 2012). Retrieved July 7, 2014. In sixteen years at UCLA, Ballatore's Bruins never won a

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divis ...

team championship, but finished second in the conference ten out of sixteen seasons. Nevertheless, he was chosen as the Pac-10's Coach of the Year four times.
Pac-12 Men's Swimming Media Guide
', Pac-12 Conference, Walnut Creek, California, pp. 1–2, 10 (2014). Retrieved July 7, 2014. Nationally, however, his Bruins teams were perennial top-ten contenders in NCAA competition. Ballatore's swimmers won twenty-six NCAA championships in individual events, plus another two NCAA championships in relay events. His UCLA swimmers also compiled a 98 percent graduation rate. A combination of

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educa ...

compliance problems and the weak financial condition of the UCLA athletic department in the early 1990s forced UCLA to disband the Bruins men's swimming program after the 1993–94 season. Ballatore became the head coach of the

Brown Bears The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share t ...

swimming team at Brown University from 1994 to 1995, and the

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

team at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

from 1996 to 1999. Before UCLA, he coached the Lancers swim team of

Pasadena City College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four-year junior college, combining the l ...

from 1967 to 1978. While leading the UCLA Bruins swimming program, Ballatore coached twenty-eight Olympians, including gold medalists Brian Goodell and

Tom Jager Thomas Michael Jager (born October 6, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer. He is five-time Olympic gold medalist in relay events, a two-time World Championship individual gold medalist for the 50-meter freestyle, and a former world ...

. He also served as a coach for five Olympic swimming teams, including the United States team at the 1984 Summer Olympics and

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, the Peruvian team in 1968, the Ecuadorian team in 1972, and the Israeli team in 1976. He also served as the head coach of the U.S. national swimming team at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...

, where his American men's swimmers won twenty-six medals in individual and relay events. He was a graduate of

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962. While he was an undergraduate, he received All-American honors competing in the

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimme ...

for the

Southern Illinois Salukis The Southern Illinois Salukis are the varsity athletic teams representing Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The nickname comes from the Saluki, the Royal Dog of Egypt and the Persian greyhound, which ties into the fact that southern Illino ...

swimming team. He later earned a master's degree in educational psychology from

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

in 1975. He was inducted into the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009, and the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

in 2012. Famed UCLA Coach Ron Ballatore's Upcoming Induction into Bruins Hall of Fame
" ''Swimming World Magazine'' (August 30, 2012). Retrieved July 7, 2014. Ballatore and his first wife, Sandra Lee had two children, a daughter and a son. With his second wife, Ann Claire he had three children two girls and a boy. He died in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...

, from cancer; he was 71 years old.

See also

References

Further reading