Former Ankeny assistant boys’ coach Dustin Rhoads has been named the head coach of the Ankeny boys’ and girls’ swimming programs.
Rhoads was the associate head coach at Luther College for the last three years, helping both the men’s and women’s programs to American Rivers Conference championships in 2021-23.
“I’ve had a great time at Luther,” Rhoads said. “It was a really unique experience, getting to coach swimming as well as tennis. But I was kind of ready to get back to a bigger area and have a little bit more time personally for me to enjoy other things besides coaching. I was looking for something back in the central Iowa area, and this opportunity happened to come up so I applied for it.”
Rhoads replaces Justin Crouch, who took over the Ankeny girls’ program a year ago following the retirement of Michelle Stout. Crouch coached the boys’ team for 14 years.
Rhoads was an assistant under Crouch in 2019 when the Hawks captured the only state title in school history.
“That was a really fun year working with Justin and Michelle and learning from them,” Rhoads said. “We had a really talented team, and they worked really hard. We put all the pieces together that season. That was really cool to be a part of that state title.”
Rhoads is a 2010 graduate of Ames High School, where he was a swimming and tennis standout. He was a three-time state swimming champion and was named the state’s swimmer of the year in 2010.
“I played five sports at one point growing up. Sports have been a huge part of my life ever since I was a little kid,” Rhoads said. “I had a really successful high school career in tennis as well, but I decided to swim at Iowa instead of play tennis. I had a lot of fun doing that.”
Rhoads was a team captain and a team MVP for the Hawkeyes. He was an NCAA Championships qualifier in both the 100 and 200 backstroke.
Rhoads started his coaching career at his alma mater, where he helped the Ames girls’ program to state championships in 2015-17.
“I’ve seen what it takes to have a successful program and how to build that as a head coach,” Rhoads said.
Rhoads was inducted into the Ames High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. He joined the Iowa High School Swimming Hall of Fame a year later.
Now, Rhoads will take on the challenge of guiding both the Ankeny boys’ and girls’ programs. The two seasons have a one-week overlap in November, when the girls are preparing for the state meet while the boys are conducting their first week of practices.
“It’s interesting that they decided to do that with the schedule,” Rhoads said. “The biggest week of the year for the girls is also when the guys are starting, and that week is always exciting but also a little chaotic, especially coming in as a new coach. It might be a little challenging, but that’s why you have good assistants to help as well. I know I can’t do it all by myself. I’m excited to build a staff that will help me out.
“We’ll have to make it work somehow,” he added.