Ocean Lakes grad who swam in Athens readies for Beijing

J.B. Walsh has never been the tallest guy in the pool. His dad, Robert, stands 6-foot-3, but J.B., who will swim in his second Olympic Games in Beijing in August, topped out at 5-8- on the short side for an elite swimmer.

J.B.'s mother, Chona, all of 5 -1, accepts responsibility for that.

"He's got my genes," she said.

Walsh, 21, is not complaining. Were it not for his mother, a native of the Philippines, he would not be preparing to swim in his second Olympiad, representing Chona's home country. He'll compete in the 200-meter butterfly, the same event he swam in Athens.

Walsh was 17 and just two months out of Ocean Lakes High when he marched in the opening ceremonies in 2004. He still gets chills thinking about it.

Four years later, it still feels like a dream.

Thrilled just to be there, Walsh's competitive expectations were understandably modest.

"His goal was not to be last," Chona Walsh said. "And he wasn't."

Walsh finished 37th, ahead of two other swimmers, one from the Republic of Seychelles and one from Uzbekistan. Four years later, after a successful career at the University of Florida, he's setting his sights higher. Walsh is hoping to reach the semifinals, which would place him in the top 16.

It's a challenging but realistic goal, said Tim Hill, who coached Walsh at the Tidewater Aquatic Club. Hill, who now coaches in Texas, will be with Walsh at a training camp in the Philippines next month and at the Olympics in August.

Hill said Walsh, who has already cut six seconds off his Athens time, has always relished a challenge.

"He's just a very persistent individual," Hill said. "Just very dedicated to what he's doing."

That was apparent from a young age. Walsh won a national martial arts title at 9 and also swam and played golf. At 13, he chose to specialize. A former backstroker, he gravitated to the butterfly because "I think it's the toughest stroke there is," he said.

Walsh dominated local competition at Tallwood but was just another high school All-American when he got to Florida, one of swimming's elite programs. Coach Gregg Troy watched Walsh swim in Athens and pronounced him out of shape.

"He called him a little butterball," Chona Walsh said.

Hardly, but Walsh's conditioning wasn't up to Florida standards. The training load in college came as a shock initially, but Walsh adjusted. In four years there, he has rarely taken more than a day or two off from training. Vacations? Forget it. Walsh can't remember the last time he took one. He needed permission from Troy to come home last weekend to attend a graduation party for his girlfriend.

"He took a really great work ethic and transformed himself into a pretty elite athlete," Troy said.

An elite student as well. Walsh carries a 3.7 grade-point average in exercise physiology.

After finishing an internship that's needed to complete his degree, he plans to take a year off - at his mother's insistence - and then attend medical school.

First, though, come the Olympics. Walsh, who holds dual citizenship, has been swimming for the Philippines since he was 13 and most recently represented the country in the Southeast Asian Games. His time there, 2:00.42, easily qualified him for Beijing.

It also represented a personal best. Walsh will likely need to trim it more to make the Olympic semis. All 16 semifinalists swam under two minutes in 2004. American Michael Phelps won the event in 1:54.04, an Olympic record.

Walsh will be giving up inches to almost all of his competitors, most of whom are well over 6 feet tall, with reaches that dwarf his own.

Nothing new there.

"You've got to use your heart and just go for it," Walsh said.

His mother, a pharmacist, will be there, as will his dad, a physician's assistant. Chona said her son gets his quiet, laid-back disposition from his father.

As for her, she screams so loudly at meets that her son always knows when she's in the building. She can't help it, she said. It's the only way to release the tension she feels inside.

"I told him he's lucky to have my (Filipino) blood," Chona said, laughing. "I gave him my blood, but I also gave him my height."

It's a trade-off Walsh will gladly take.

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com