4-Time Champ Rijnovean Set to Pursue Another Title Pair to Close Seaholm Career
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 6, 2026
BIRMINGHAM — Growing up, Birmingham Seaholm senior Elliot Rijnovean was involved in a lot of sports, whether it was soccer, basketball, hockey, tennis or anything else that got him moving.
Eventually though, there was one important intangible that swimming ended up providing.
“I started winning in swimming, and I wasn’t winning in other sports,” he said. “So I was like, ‘You know, I’m going to stick with this because this could be my thing.’ It turned out that it was.”
It indeed has been Rijnovean’s thing, given he has done a lot of winning during a terrific high school career.
Next week at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals, Rijnovean will pursue his fifth and sixth individual championships.
Two years ago as a sophomore, he won the 100-yard backstroke (48.69) and 100 butterfly (48.83). He pulled the feat off again last year, capturing the 100 back in 47.10 and the 100 butterfly in 47.85.
Rijnovean enters this Finals in good form, having set a personal best of 46.72 in the 100 back last week at the Oakland Activities Association Red championships.
While he excels in both races, he started first with backstroke as a young swimmer and is a little more comfortable in that event.
“When I was 8, I won our summer championship in the 25-meter backstroke, so I’ve always been a backstroker,” Rijnovean said. “But I kind of picked up the fly a little later, my freshman year. Obviously, my sophomore and junior year I ended up swimming fly and won both times. It kind of complements backstroke because they’re both similar in terms of how the event is swum. Basically, it’s like an underwater focus. Underwater dolphin kicks, those go hand in hand together for me.”
As it turns out, taking up the butterfly might serve Rijnovean well beyond high school. Committed to Indiana, Rijnovean said coaches for the Hoosiers have emphasized there might be more opportunities in the butterfly once he gets to Bloomington.
“Coach Ray Looze, the head coach of Indiana, said that they needed butterfly,” said Rijnovean, adding that Indiana coaches want him to keep improving and be ready in both strokes. “I really wanted to swim butterfly because he said Indiana needs it, so that’s why I kept pushing for butterfly last year.”
Before he worries about college, Rijnovean wants to make the final week of his high school career as memorable as possible.
Seaholm has a first-year coach in Casey Sreenan, who from a swimming perspective felt like he inherited a mansion getting to coach Rijnovean to start off his tenure.
Knowing what Rijnovean has meant to the program and how much teammates look up to him, Sreenan said there have been times he’s made Rijnovean a de facto coach and let him run drills during practices.
“One day I was just like, ‘If there’s anything you want to work on or if you have a suggested workout, let me know,’” Sreenan said. “He would send me sets, and we would redo them. And the whole team would do them. We got great results. He’s got a great work ethic and great technique, obviously. It was easy to kind of have days where the focus was on things he wanted to work on. It benefitted the team as a whole.”
As is the case with a lot of nationally-acclaimed swimmers, there was temptation for Rijnovean to focus solely on club and not bother with high school athletics.
But he was having none of that and will leave Seaholm eternally grateful for his high school experience.
“It’s so different from club,” he said. “It’s more like a brotherhood. Swimming really is an individual sport. You swim, you do your best, you get your time, you win. It’s kind of all about you. But for high school, it’s more like brothers you train with and you just get through hard times with. When you win with them, it felt so much better.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Birmingham Seaholm’s Elliot Rijnovean swims to a championship in the backstroke at last year’s LP Division 2 Finals. (Middle) Rijnovean stands atop the podium after receiving his medal. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Performance: Saline's Dakota Hurbis
February 16, 2017
Dakota Hurbis
Saline senior – Swimming & Diving
Hurbis is finishing a high school career that will rank among the most prolific in Michigan high school diving history, and over the last year he’s been on a particular tear. After defeating reigning champion Jake Herremans of Rockford at last season’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, Hurbis has continued to be the favorite to beat, and earned the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week” by posting a score of 531.70 last Friday to break a 17-year-old record and win the event at the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association meet at Eastern Michigan University.
Hurbis finished second in LP Division 1 and third as a sophomore before last year’s championship win, and his meet record at EMU bested the previous by more than 11 points. It’s in part a product of hard work; Hurbis has been training at EMU since he was 9 and during high school season regularly has put in double practices, even when he also was playing baseball as a freshman. This winter's performance has been impressive for another reason: Last spring, after taking first and second places at USA Diving Junior Regionals, Hurbis was faced with the challenge of coming back from June shoulder surgery – which he accomplished, about a month early, in October.
A big-time University of Michigan, New England Patriots and Detroit Tigers fan, he’ll be rooting for other Tigers the next few years diving at Louisiana State University. Hurbis carries a 3.4 grade-point average and is interested in studying for a future in sports business. First, he'll help the Hornets as they try to break Birmingham Brother Rice's three-season hold on the Division 1 title; Saline was runner-up a year ago. Hurbis is a team captain, a rarity for a diver as he competes in only one event for his team, but also a testament to his leadership.
Coach Todd Brunty said: “Dakota is simply one of the best we have ever had. He is hard-working and dedicated to his sport. He has worked tirelessly all year round at Legacy Diving Club in Ypsilanti for as long as I can remember to become one of the best divers in Michigan high school history. He was elected by his teammates as captain of our team for many reasons. I think the main reason is that he has always been a team-first guy. Many swimmers or divers that are as good as he is may not compete in high school and just dive club diving (where they can spend more time on 3-meter and 10-meter events not competed in high school but competed in college). Dakota stayed loyal to his team and to the guys he grew up with here in Saline. He has even swam at our championship meets and dual meets to fill crucial relay positions to help the team. He is also very helpful to new swimmers and divers. Dakota is always supportive and helpful to them, teaching them new things and spreading the love of the sport to them. It is like having a second dive coach."
Performance Point: “The MISCA meet is a really big meet for me because it’s all divisions; we have the state meet but it’s only our division, so this is the best competition I’ll face with divers from all over the state," Hurbis said. "I was seeded first going in but I knew a couple of people were really close to me, and I knew I’d have to have a really good meet. I just went into that meet knowing I’d have to focus up a little more and do a little extra, and once the meet started all my training and everything took over. I got into meet mentality, and I had myself a pretty good meet.”
It’s always been diving: “Ever since I was a kid, I liked being around the water. My older brother (Steven, 2009 grad) swam, and I saw him on the high school team and that he got a lot of close friends (from swimming). I did the country club stuff when I was younger, and I just enjoyed being around the water. Once I started diving, it came pretty easy to me, and I had coaches tell me I could be good at it. I played baseball, I played football, I swam a little bit, but diving is what I’ve always been passionate about.”
Speak up: “I’ve tried to be the best team player I can be during my four years here. My sophomore year I began giving pregame speeches in the locker room, and every opportunity I’ve gotten I’ve tried to step up and lead the team – be outspoken, be a good example for the people following me. … When we go into the locker room before meets, sometimes people say a couple things. (I try to be) a little funny and (with) a little bit of motivation. The key is you’ve got to mix them both together.”
Comeback trail: “My shoulder had been bothering me since winter, and I had a pretty big torn labrum. I wanted to wait until after senior Zones, but my coach told me to get (surgery) done as soon as possible so I could come back for my senior year. … I ended up getting in the water in mid-October again, and in the beginning I was just trying to get all my dives back on all boards – 1-meter, 3-meter and platform. A lot of people were surprised I came back early, and when I came back I got my dives back right away. I’ve got a couple of extra dives on 1-meter I haven’t competed yet, and on 3-meter I’ve got a couple of new dives, which is nice. I’m constantly adding stuff; some people throw bigger DD (degree of difficulty) dives, but I try to do what scores best.”
Business of sports: “I’m actually really good with numbers, math and numbers, so I might do something with that. My whole life I’ve followed sports; I can tell you anything about professional sports, college, and my brother and dad are the same way. It’s sometime I’d like to go into.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
Feb. 2: Foster Loyer, Clarkston basketball – Read
Jan. 26: Nick Jenkins, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling – Read
Jan. 19: Eileene Naniseni, Mancelona basketball – Read
Jan. 12: Rory Anderson, Calumet hockey – Read
Dec. 15: Demetri Martin, Big Rapids basketball – Read
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Saline's Dakota Hurbis tucks during a dive at his home pool this season. (Middle) Hurbis will attempt to add a second-straight MHSAA Finals championship next month. (Top photo courtesy of the Hurbis family, bottom photo courtesy of the Saline Post.)