Ankeny boys’ swimming star Lance Swanepoel has earned all-American honors in the 100 butterfly for the fourth consecutive year.
Swanepoel was named an all-American in four events by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association. The Wisconsin recruit was an 11-time all-American in his high school career.
Swanepoel ranked fifth nationally in the butterfly with a time of 46.89 seconds, which smashed the previous state record of 47.84 that was set by RJ Hemmingsen of Council Bluffs Lewis Central in 2014. He posted that time during the preliminaries at the state meet, then went on to win his second straight title in the event in 47.10.
Swanepoel also won his first state title in the 50 freestyle, posting a time of 20.40 seconds. His time of 20.33 in the preliminaries tied for 34th nationally in the U.S.
Swanepoel also swam on Ankeny’s runner-up 200 and 400 freestyle relays at the state meet and was named the state’s Athlete of the Year. He led the Hawks to a fourth-place finish in coach Justin Crouch’s final season.
Swanepoel teamed up with Owen Schewebach, Owen Evans and Noah Schafer in the 200 freestyle relay. The Hawks posted a time of 1:24.93, which tied for 71st nationally.
Ankeny also earned all-American honors in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:06.34, which ranked 62nd in the U.S. Swanepoel was joined on that relay by Calvin Howard, Brock Peterson and Schwebach.
Swanepoel put the Hawks in first place with a split of 44.41 seconds on the opening leg. That time ranked 31st nationally in the 100 freestyle.
Swanepoel ended his career as a five-time state champion. As a sophomore in 2021, he anchored Ankeny to victories in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.