Even with the graduation of Lance Swanepoel, the Ankeny boys’ swimming team still boasts plenty of talent.
The Hawks placed fourth in last year’s state meet with 160 points, but will have to replace Swanepoel, who was named the Swim Athlete of the Year after winning both the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly to finish his career as a five-time state champion. He is now swimming at Wisconsin.
However, seven state qualifiers are back from a team that posted dual-meet records of 2-3-1 in the CIML Conference and 4-3-1 overall.
“The practices have been going pretty well!” said first-year Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads. “We started two-a-day practices right away, and it was chaotic with the girls’ final week of their season but I am glad to be down to just coaching one team and excited for the boys. We have been working hard as we have a lot of high goals and expectations of this team and program.”
Seniors Roe Denny, Owen Evans, Andrew Law and Owen Schwebach are among the team’s returning state qualifiers. The others are juniors Brock Peterson, Nicholas Robie and Finn Stukerjurgen.
“We have some returning state qualifiers, and I am excited for them to lead this team,” Rhoads said.
Schwebach, a Xavier of Ohio recruit, placed fourth in the butterfly. He posted a time of 49.99 seconds.
Schwebach is also one of the state’s top sprinters. He was disqualified in the 50 freestyle at last year’s district meet, but that disqualification allowed him to swim in all three relays at the state meet.
Schwebach helped the Hawks to second-place finishes in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and a sixth-place finish in the 200 medley relay.
“Owen is one of the top swimmers in the state,” Rhoads said. “I am super excited to coach him and proud of him from already finding a home next year to swim at Xavier! The pressure is off for him, and I hope he just continues to lead the team well, has fun, and just works hard to do his best. I would love to help coach him to a state title performance in an individual event, but we are just going to take it one day at a time and enjoy the journey together and as a team.”
Evans, Peterson and Stukerjurgen each qualified for the state meet in two individual events. Denny, Law and Robie were also individual qualifiers.
Peterson placed 10th in the butterfly (52.13) and 13th in the 100 backstroke (53.54), while Stukerjurgen took 19th in the 200 individual medley (2:00.05) and 20th in the 500 freestyle (4:53.09). Evans finished 18th in the 100 freestyle (48.43) and 23rd in the 50 freestyle (22.28).
Law and Denny both qualified for state in the backstroke. Law placed 30th in 57.16, while Denny finished 31st in 57.28.
Robie was a state qualifier in the 100 breaststroke. He took 30th in 1:02.37.
All four members of the medley relay are back this season. Schwebach was joined on that unit by Peterson, Robie and Evans; they teamed up to post a time of 1:36.11.
Evans also swam on the 200 freestyle relay that posted a time of 1:24.93, earning all-American honors from the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association. That unit tied for 71st nationally.
Peterson swam on the 400 freestyle relay that was clocked in 3:06.34, earning all-American honors as well. That unit ranked 62nd in the U.S.
“The strengths of this team are similar to the girls’ team–we have a lot of upperclassmen with experience, and we can put a really talented and experienced swimmer in most events,” Rhoads said. “We have a lot of talented butterflyers. We need to continue to work on our depth and figure out our No. 2 and 3 guys in a lot of events and strengthen all of our relays. That second relay in every event is huge for dual-meet success.”
Rhoads said he also expects Noah Kearney, Bryer Pearson, Austin Troyer, Calvin Heitzman, Tommy Gilbert, Tate Brownsberger, Sam Howard and Wilson Pous-Ojeda to contribute heavily for the Hawks, who will open their season on Tuesday by hosting the Sprint Invitational at Trail Point Aquatics Center.
“We want to compete and try to win a conference title, district title, and be in the mix for a state championship with top five being the main goal!” Rhoads said. “We would like to get as many guys into the state meet as possible and hopefully someone in every event.”