124 years to the day after Olympic water polo debuted in the River Seine, Team USA led Hungary 3-0 in a penalty shootout during the bronze medal match, in the same city where the sport first made its Olympic debut. Victory seemed almost certain as Hungarian driver Gergo Zalanki stepped up to take his penalty. Zalanki’s shot hit the left post, and celebration erupted on the United States bench as they won their first Olympic medal in more than 15 years. Among the 13 Team USA players celebrating were two old high school friends, Ben Hallock ’16 and Johnny Hooper ’15, embracing in the pool.
Going into the fourth quarter, the U.S. had a hard-fought 6-5 lead, but Hungary opened the period with three straight goals, leaving the Americans down two. After solid defense and a few clutch goals to tie it 8-8, the game culminated in three straight misses from the Hungarians in penalty shootouts. Hooper said he was confident down the stretch despite the two-goal deficit late in the game.
“We were down by two in the fourth quarter with about three and a half minutes left,” Hooper said. “I wasn’t very nervous. I had a feeling we could slowly chip away because we had plenty of time to score two or three goals. In penalty shootouts, you’re a little bit more nervous if you’re the team that just gave up the lead. Hungarians are known as some of the best shooters in the world, and they missed three penalties in a row, which is unheard of.”
Both Hooper and Hallock played pivotal roles on the road to the bronze medal in Paris. Hallock was a dominant force at center, drawing 45 personal fouls on himself—the most among all Olympians in the competition. Hooper notched six goals in the tournament, including one to open the bronze medal match. Hallock scored two goals of his own, including one in the first quarter off an assist from Hooper.
Hallock made his Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio, while Hooper joined the team for the 2020 Games in Japan. Team USA finished sixth in Tokyo and left Japan without a medal for the third consecutive Olympic Games. Hooper said the team grew a lot between games.”
“The team we saw in Tokyo and the team that we saw in Paris were two completely different teams,” Hooper said. “When I say completely different, I don’t mean the players changed, but we matured a lot going into the Paris Olympics. It showed in those adverse moments where we didn’t come out on top in Tokyo, but we did come out on top in Paris.”
Hallock and Hooper are no strangers to success when playing together. Hallock and Hooper led the boys’ water polo team to back-to-back CIF Southern Section Division 1 championships in 2013 and 2014. Hooper said he and his teammates grew a lot during their time at the school amidst their success.
“We were a really young group, and there wasn’t a ton of success before we joined for a long time,” Hooper said. “It was great to cultivate these young groups of guys to become the best players that we could in high school, and there was such good chemistry between all the guys.
Ben and I have been teammates since we were like eight years old. I have really fond memories of playing at Harvard-Westlake with all my teammates. We created a pretty cool culture, and we did a lot of winning.”
Hooper said his time at the school helped him get to where he is now.
“Harvard-Westlake holds a very special place in my heart,” Hooper said. “Playing water polo there throughout my entire middle and high school career helped me a ton. A lot of things I learned at Harvard-Westlake, work ethic-wise, motivation-wise and IQ-wise, played into my personal growth as a water polo player. I feel very connected to Harvard-Westlake and grateful for the experience that I received there.”
During Hooper’s freshman year, Brian Flacks ’06, who had already coached Hooper’s club team LA Premier, took over as the program head. Hooper said playing for Flacks in different settings allowed them to build a stronger relationship.
“Flacks was my coach in the age group before Harvard-Westlake, then became my Harvard-Westlake coach, then became my club coach and then became my junior national team coach,” Hooper said. “We stay in touch pretty often, and Brian is proud of us for taking it all the way [in Paris].”
Hooper credited his career success to the people who supported him throughout his journey.
“I’ve had a lot of good mentors and people to look up to throughout my career,” Hooper said. “It’s important when you’re a young player to have people you model your game after or have people guiding you in the right direction.”
Despite having both graduated more than eight years ago, Hooper and Hallock’s legacy still looms large at the school. Attacker Lukas Kovacevic ’27 said he looks up to Hooper and Hallock and everything they have accomplished.
“Their combined influence and legacy were one of the reasons I came to this school in the first place,” Kovacevic said. “I hope to continue their legacy of incredible Harvard-Westlake water polo.”
Center defender and Stanford commit Collin Caras ’25 said it is an honor to play at a school that produces Olympic talent.
“Johnny and Ben are among the best players in the world,” Caras said. “To see that success sprout from the pools and program at Harvard-Westlake is really inspiring. Every time our team puts on our cap, we recognize that we’re not playing just for our team, [but] we’re playing for the people who built this program. The people who built this program are doing great things with their lives. They’re winning bronze medals and inspiring the younger guys.”
This story originally appeared in the fall edition of Big Red. Find the issue here.
