Irvine’s Ronson Decides to Focus on One Sport : Swimming: After one season, junior gives up water polo.

When Steve Ronson went out for Irvine’s freshman water polo team in 1993, he was pretty clear about his plans for the next four years. It would be water polo in the fall and swimming the rest of the year with his club, the Novaquatics.

But shortly after the water polo season ended, Ronson’s plans changed; swimming would be his only sport. He decided it wasn’t fair to either sport to split his time and energies.

Ronson’s change in plans had nothing to do with his ability to play water polo. Far from it. He scored 58 goals his first season and even played a bit with the varsity. Ronson and his coaches believed he had a very good water polo career ahead.

“When I was playing water polo, I was practicing in the morning and swimming in the afternoon, which had a big effect on my swimming,” said Ronson, now a junior. “Swimming is not like any other sport. In sports like baseball or football, if you take time off from it, it doesn’t take long to regain what you’ve lost. In swimming, you have to train all the time. And any time away from it can have a big impact.”

Ronson said it was hard to give up water polo. His older brother, Brian, had played four years at Irvine and swam.

Ronson also played water polo in summer leagues and some of his best friends were on the team. So it wasn’t an easy decision for him.

“I felt bad giving water polo up. I had a lot of fun,” said Ronson, adding that Irvine water polo Coach Greg Gray supported his decision and told him he could come back if he wanted.

“But after 10 years of swimming, I had a lot invested in the sport, and my goal has always been to be the best I can be in swimming. I felt I would not be able to accomplish that goal if I continued to play polo.”

Dave Salo, Novaquatics coach, said whatever decision is reached by one of his swimmers regarding other sports, it has to be made by the swimmer alone.

“I remember when John Simmons was swimming for me,” Salo said. “John was apparently pretty good at baseball and he was being pressured to play baseball at El Toro during his sophomore year. He thought he could play a few days there and swim a few days here. I told him of the ramifications of what might happen if he were to do this. He eventually decided to keep swimming. But that was his decision, not mine.”

Salo said he was surprised when Ronson told him of his decision to swim exclusively. “I think he caught Greg (Gray) by surprise too. But he made up his mind on his own,” Salo said.

Gray said he thought Steve could have easily been a two-sport athlete. “Steve is a sprinter, and sprinters do very well in the sport. I definitely think Steve was college material, and I think he could have gone somewhere with the sport.”

Ronson practices six days a week. At Junior Nationals last month, he qualified in seven events. At last year’s Southern Section finals, he qualified in every event and was an All-American in the 200 individual medley.

He was ranked 10th in the nation in the 100-meter breaststroke as a 16-year-old, and he has the fastest breaststroke time in the county this year.

Ronson started swimming when he was 3 and joined the SoCal swim club at 5. However, he also played baseball, soccer, basketball and participated in track. He was especially fond of soccer, and if not for swimming, he would be playing soccer.

“When I was younger I actually thought about quitting swimming,” Ronson said. “But as I got older, I began to realize that swimming might help me with my college goals.”

Ronson said water polo still sometimes tugs at his heart.

“When I’m done with swimming, I’ll probably join a master’s water polo team,” he said. “I really love the sport and I hope to play it once again.”