Craig Rond
Coach Craig Rond has
been coaching aquatics for 40 years. He was
the head coach of the Thousand Oaks High School Swimming and Water Polo teams
for 6 years in the 1990’s and early 2000’s where he won multiple league
championships. He has been back at the helm of the TOHS Aquatics program since
2021. Rond is credited with founding and
developing the first high school all-girls water polo team in TOHS history and
one of the first in the country. Coach Rond is the founder of the South Coast
Water Polo Club. Since it’s inception in 1989, the club has become one of the
longest lasting clubs in the United States, developing hundreds of collegiate
athletes. Rond spent 19 years as the
Head Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Coach at California Lutheran University where
he led teams to 3 National Championships and was named National Coach-Of-The-Year
4 times. Rond developed over 100
Collegiate All-Americans, multiple Player-Of-The-Year award winners, and holds the
honor of all-time winningest coach in program history.
Coach Rond attended
Thousand Oaks High School and earned All-America honors in both swimming and
water polo. He earned a spot on the TOHS
school record board in the 200 yard medley relay. He swam a year at Pepperdine
University until the program was lost to Title IX compliance. He transferred to Ventura College where he
was captain of the water polo and swim teams. He was a state champion in the
200 yard butterfly, 400 yard medley Relay, and 800 yard Freestyle Relay. He was inducted into the Ventura College
Sports Hall-Of-Fame after becoming an All-American in both swimming and water
polo. Rond then completed his collegiate career at San Jose State University
where he captained the water polo team and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree
in Communication Studies. He went on to
earn a Master of Arts Degree in Sports Administration from the University of
Arizona. Coach Rond has been an L.A. County Ocean lifeguard working at Zuma
Beach for 41 years and helped his surf racing team win the coveted Taplin Relay
Lifeguard race three times. He has been a member of 3 Ocean Lifeguard National
Championship teams. Rond has won several open-water swimming events including
the 2-mile Pier-to-Pier Swim in Manhattan Beach, the 3-mile Semana Nautica in
Santa Barbara, the 5-mile Masters Nationals in San Pedro, and the
Escape-From-Alcatraz Open Water Championship in San Francisco.
Coach Craig Rond
lives in Ventura with his wife Jennifer.
They are most proud of the family they have raised. His daughters Lexi and Delaney have earned
college degrees from CLU and his son Cade is working toward his degree from the
University of Utah. In his time off, Coach Rond enjoys walking his dogs
Maverick, Blue and Cowboy on the beach, swimming, outrigger canoeing, and
relaxing at local coffee shops with his family and friends.
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