Ian Hoover-Grinde takes over Linn-Mar boys’ swimming with talented roster

MARION — Ian Hoover-Grinde grew up believing he could make his dreams come true.

As he begins his first season coaching the Linn-Mar boys’ swimming team, he wants the same for his athletes.

“I've repeatedly told them that their potential is limitless,” he said “The ‘self-actualized’ or ‘ideal’ version of themselves that they see when they close their eyes is who they are, and that it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks as long as they believe in themselves.”

Hoover-Grinde is a 2016 Cedar Rapids Washington graduate who attended Iowa State and Coe, where he swam and ran cross country. His dream since his freshman year of high school was to become a world-class triathlete. He competed professionally for seven seasons all over the world before a series of health issues ended his career earlier this year.

After returning to Iowa, Hoover-Grinde began coaching at the club level at Linn-Mar. When approached about replacing Tom Belin, who resigned after last season, Hoover-Grindle accepted the assignment.

“I immediately began to think of ways that I could help them,” he said. “While I mean this in ways that refer to my coaching style and structure, what I was mostly thinking about was how I could best prepare them for life beyond high school.”

Consistency, integrity, empathy and excellence are qualities Hoover-Grinde deems important for his swimmers. As the Lions prepare for their season opening meet at home on Tuesday against Metro rivals Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington, Hoover-Grinde likes what he has seen so far.

“Consistency is the most important thing when it comes to our development as both athletes and people,” he said. “Integrity is something I've spoken to the boys about not because of issues, but because doing the hard work means being honest with where you are now, and where you want to be, and holding yourself to those high standards in and out of the pool.

“Thankfully the boys have spoken about empathy in some of our team meetings, showing that they all understand that no matter who it is on the team, there needs to be empathy and sympathy for anyone on the team if they are facing difficulty, or something adverse thrown at them that they cannot control.”

One other quality the Lions have is ability. They finished sixth at last year's state meet and return a pair of sophomore state placewinners in Hudson Huberg and Parker Macho. Huberg was third in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles while Macho took fifth in the 100 butterfly.

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Linn-Mar also will have seniors Luke Kelley and Mason Turner back on the squad. Both swimmers placed in the top eight at state in the 500 freestyle as sophomores. After electing to only swim on the club level last year, both decided to return to the high school team.

“What they bring to the team in terms of experience, dedication and work ethic is something I hope a lot of the guys, especially the younger ones, can look to and learn from,” Hoover-Grinde said. “You don't get to the level they're at without making sacrifices, being able to handle adversity, and keeping the long-term goal in the front of your mind.”

Needless to say, Hoover-Grinde is excited about the upcoming season.

“We have discussed our expectations as a team for this year,” he said, “and all I can say is that this will be a fun year to watch.”