On Nov. 6, coach Greg Rhodenbaugh stood on the edge of the pool deck watching his Missouri swimmers race on the first day of a weekend meet. As he watched, another coach came and tapped Rhodenbaugh on the shoulder and told him something.
Rhodenbaugh gave a fist pump and smiled. His son Caleb had just made finals at the Missouri high school state championship swim meet.
That weekend, there were two meets Rhodenbaugh was focused on: Mizzou’s meet against Kentucky, Northwestern and Southern Illinois, and his two sons’ state meet in St. Peters, Missouri.
Josh and Caleb Rhodenbaugh attend Rock Bridge High School and both qualified for the state championship meet in swimming. Josh is a senior and Caleb is a junior. With the help of the Rhodenbaugh brothers, the Rock Bridge Bruins won the state title, ending Rockhurst High School’s streak of 11 consecutive championships.
“We had all worked really hard to get to that spot … just to actually get somewhere with what you had done gave you this great feeling of accomplishment,” Caleb Rhodenbaugh said.
Caleb was instrumental in the Bruins’ success at the state meet. The junior finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke and also earned first team All-State honors in two relay events.
Josh Rhodenbaugh made the state meet in Rock Bridge’s last regular season meet of the year. He qualified in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 1:04.47, only two-hundredths of a second faster than the state qualifying time.
“I’ve never swum at state before and I wanted to do that before I graduated,” Josh Rhodenbaugh said. “So I was extremely excited to be able to do it at least once.”
Josh had to drop two seconds to notch his place on the Rock Bridge state team. When the senior earned a qualifying time, the team erupted in cheers and rallied around him.
Greg Rhodenbaugh feels that Josh’s swim set the tone for Rock Bridge going into the state championship meet.
“That really got the team going …” Greg Rhodenbaugh said. “That gives them confidence going into the state meet.”
When Rock Bridge got to state, they took care of business. The Bruins finished over 100 points ahead of second-place Hickman.
Greg Rhodenbaugh had to miss the state preliminary races Nov. 6 because of a Mizzou meet. But since the Saturday portion of Mizzou’s meet was in the morning, the coach was able to make it to St. Peter’s for Saturday’s state finals.
“On Friday, he wasn’t there, so I didn’t hear him,” Caleb Rhodenbaugh said. “And then on Saturday, I would walk out, and I’d just hear this, ‘All right, let’s go, Caleb. Come on.’ And I would look up, and it’s my dad.”
Josh and Caleb are the sixth and seventh of eight children. Their younger brother, Timmy Rhodenbaugh, is a freshman cross-country runner for Rock Bridge.
Even with their father’s position, the Rhodenbaugh brothers said having a swim coach as a dad does not give them added pressure.
“We know that it’s not exactly pressure to just do swimming, but we also know that he’s always there in case we do need help to get better,” Josh Rhodenbaugh said. “And he has given us help sometimes.”
Other than Timmy, all the Rhodenbaugh siblings have tried competitive swimming. Courtney Rhodenbaugh was the only one who swam at the collegiate level, competing for Nebraska and Mizzou.
Michael Rhodenbaugh, now a freshman in college, helped Rock Bridge to a second place finish at state in 2014. He also finished sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke, the same event Josh and Caleb specialize in. Greg Rhodenbaugh said there was certainly an element of competition between his sons.
“There was no doubt in my mind that Caleb was shooting to go faster than Michael, and there was no doubt in my mind that Josh was trying to go faster than three of his older brothers …” Greg Rhodenbaugh said. “It’s kind of fun to just watch them, in a healthy way, rib each other and get each other going and then compliment each other on how awesome they did after the fact.”
Other than Courtney, none of the Rhodenbaugh children have ever swum year-round. Caleb also plays basketball and runs track, and Josh works at Chick-fil-A.
Although he plans to swim for exercise, Josh is not planning on swimming competitively in college. Caleb is weighing a number of options, including playing basketball at the collegiate level.
For Greg Rhodenbaugh, swimming never stops. For his kids, it’s a three-month season. And the Mizzou coach has no problem with that.
“I’m just proud of my boys,” Greg Rhodenbaugh said. “That’s the big thing. And really I’m just proud of their hard work, tenaciousness and confidence in themselves and their team. And that kind of sums it up.”
