North Central College Athletics

On a roster full of trailblazers during North Central College's most successful era in men's swimming, Byron Ware '68 was a pioneer in his own right as a major contributor to three National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) team national championships.

A native of Rockford, Ill., Ware came to North Central after winning a state title in the 100-yard breaststroke as a senior at Rockford West High School in 1958. The victory made him the first African-American state swimming champion in the state of Illinois.

In 1960, Ware was national runner-up in the 100 breaststroke and swam on a runner-up 400-yard medley relay team to earn a pair of All-America certificates at the NAIA National Championships, at which the Cardinals placed second to Southern Illinois University. A year later, Ware was one of 10 All-America honorees on the North Central team that crushed the field to win the 1961 NAIA title, the program's second national crown and its first since 1958. Ware won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1 minute, 7.4 seconds to set a new NAIA meet record, becoming the first African-American national champion at any level of collegiate swimming. Ware also was a runner-up in the 200 breaststroke (2:32.5) and the 400 medley relay (4:00.0), setting new North Central records in both events.

Ware's 400 medley relay team set a new NAIA record (3:55.6) at the 1962 National Championships, one of 10 meet records set by the Cardinals, and won a second straight title, defeating runner-up Detroit Institute of Technology by 50 points (125-75). North Central achieved three straight team titles in 1963, defeating runner-up Macalester College (Minn.) by 47 points (101-54) and setting six meet records. Ware once again swam on a first-place 400 medley relay, which smashed its own NAIA record with a time of 3:48.8.

In all, Ware was a recipient of seven NAIA All-America certificates. He also was a member of four straight College Conference of Illinois (CCI) championship teams and won a CCI individual championship in the 200 breaststroke in 1961.

After graduating from North Central, Ware was employed by AT&T for 30 years and lived in Oklahoma after his retirement in 1993. Ware passed away in 2004 at age 64.

Ware is the 10th member of North Central's men's swimming program to be enclosed in the Athletics Hall of Fame.