The Ankeny boys’ swimming team nearly knocked off one of the state’s top squads on Saturday.
Eighth-ranked Ankeny held a two-point lead going into the final event before No. 4 Linn-Mar (Marion) went 1-3 in the 400 freestyle relay to escape with an 87-83 victory in a non-conference dual meet at Trail Point Aquatics Center. The Lions improved to 10-5 on the season.
“We had a very fun dual that came down to the last relay,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads, whose team is now 11-10 overall. “As a coaching staff, the goal was to put these guys in a position to try to win the meet. The lineup we created worked well because the boys swam really well. The varsity squad has yet to be at full strength in 2026 because of sickness going around, which has been frustrating. It is better to happen now than at the very end of the season.”
Ankeny needed to win the last relay to earn the victory or get second and third places to finish in a tie. Linn-Mar won the event in a time of 3:11.96, finishing nearly 7 seconds ahead of the team of Jake Smith, Miles Harbert, Bryer Pearson and Wilson Pous-Ojeda (3:18.67).
The Lions also placed third in 3:27.65, finishing 1.53 seconds ahead of Ankeny’s “B” relay.
“I decided to let my top guys go for it,” Rhoads said. “Although we didn’t win the race, the boys went a season-best time by 2 seconds and both our ‘A’ and ‘B’ relays had some lifetime best splits on them.”
Ankeny got individual wins from Smith, Harbert and Pearson. Those three also teamed up with Noah Kearney to capture the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:30.77.
Harbert won the 200 freestyle in 1:52.70, leading his team’s sweep of the top three places. Pous-Ojeda was the runner-up in 1:53.98, while Sam Howard took third in 1:57.25.
Ankeny also swept the top three places in the 50 freestyle. Smith won the event in 22.82 seconds, Harbert was second in 23.48, and Ike Evans finished third in 23.83.
Pearson took the 100 butterfly in 51.61 seconds. He later placed second in the 100 backstroke in 56.46.
Smith added a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle, posting a time of 5:01.61. Kearney was the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.78.
Kearney also swam on the second-place 200 medley relay. He combined with Parker Wilson, Jack Walsh and Evans to post a time of 1:46.14.
“That’s a really good team and we had them beat, and I believe we would have won with our entire varsity squad,” Rhoads said. “As a very competitive person it sucks–as I wanted that one for our team and seniors at our last home meet–but I hope this gives the boys confidence that they can compete with any team in the state. We have come up short against all of our ranked opponents, but it is a great experience for the boys to take into the postseason starting next week. This is a fun time of year with conference, districts and state.
“This is where we want to be at our best. I am excited for the boys and what is to come soon!” he added.
Ankeny will compete in the CIML Conference meet on Saturday at the Waukee Natatorium, beginning at 10 a.m. Rhoads’ squad placed third at last year’s meet, which was won by Waukee Northwest.
The meet will feature five of the top eight teams in the state–No. 2 Northwest, No. 5 Waukee, No. 6 Dowling Catholic, No. 7 Valley and Ankeny.
