Results /
Smugmug Photo Gallery
GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin University men's swimming and diving team shattered three records as it completed day two of the MIAA Swimming & Diving Championships in first place on Thursday at Venema Aquatic Center.
The Knights finished the day with 423 points, opening up a 96-point lead over second-place Hope College (327 points).
Calvin broke new school, pool, and MIAA Championships records in the 200 freestyle relay, the 400 medley relay, and in the 50 freestyle on the day.
*Calvin opened the festivities on Thursday night with a new record in the 200 freestyle relay as the team of
Jacob Heeres (Zeeland, Mich./Holland Christian),
Noah Holstege (Charlottesville, Va./The Covenant School),
Forrest Peterson (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) and
Corey Campbell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) finished in a time of 1:18.98. Heeres opened the relay with a 20.28 split, while Holstege, Peterson and Campbell each finished their split in under 20.0 on the way to the fastest time in NCAA Division III this season.
The team of
Charles Platt (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North),
Julien Camy (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian),
Hudson DeBoer (Zeeland, Mich./Holland Christian) and
Vladimir Molin (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) won the 'B' consolation 200 freestyle relay race in a time of 1:22.84.
*The Knights also closed the day with a record time of 3:14.23 in the 400 medley relay, breaking the previous MIAA Championships record by nearly four seconds. Holstege started the race with a backstroke split of 48.44, followed by
Caleb Gemmen (Mentor, Ohio/Homeschool) with a 54.85 breaststroke split. Peterson followed with a 47.82 split in the butterfly, and Heeres anchored the race with a 43.12 freestyle swim to secure the record. The 3:14.23 time ranks fifth this season in NCAA Division III.
The team of Platt,
Bryce Miner (Cupertino, Calif./Homestead), Campbell and DeBoer won the 'B' consolation race in a time of 3:21.12.
*Holstege claimed the third record of the day in the 50 freestyle, where he broke his own school and pool record with a time of 19.51. His previous record of 19.66, set at the Calvin Winter Invite in December, already ranked first in the nation this season.
The Knights dominated the 50 freestyle event, taking six of the top eight places in the finals. Heeres (third), Peterson (fourth), Campbell (fifth), Camy (seventh) and Molin (eighth) each made the finals, while DeBoer and
William Toomey (Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk) finished in the top two of the 'B' race.
*
Timothy Hays (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) added to the list of first-place finishers in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:50.98. Miner followed in third with a time of 1:52.20, while
Austin Martinson (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) took seventh with a time of 1:55.26. Gemmen finished first in the 'B' race with a time of 1:55.27.
*
Joshua Seidelman (Northville, Mich./Northville) was the top Calvin finisher in the 500 freestyle in third place with a time of 4:36.78.
Samuel Hoover (Beverly Hills, Mich./Fraser) and
David Bajwa (Potomac, Md./The Heights School) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the event.
*In the three-meter diving competition,
Jason Perez (Plainwell, Mich./Plainwell) took fourth place with 413.0 points, followed by
Jay Cen (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) in fifth with 400.05 points.
Wilson Goodpaster (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton) finished eighth with 348.4 points.
COACH'S COMMENT: "I don't know if the team remembers me telling them this back in the fall, but just the way they worked out and paid attention to the details and bought into the things we were trying teach them, I told them I think this could be a special group come the end of the year, and it's really becoming true," Calvin head coach
Dan Gelderloos said. "I'm at the end of a day where I'm almost speechless. This could be one of the best days in swimming history of any conference meet I've ever coached, just looking at the records and the number of best times, how much we dropped, improvements, performance, comradere, teamwork, and on and on. I'm just so proud of these kids."
You can hear the full comments from Gelderloos from the end of Thursday's races if you click on the video below:
NEXT UP: Calvin swimming and diving returns to action for day three (of four) at the MIAA Championships at Venema Aquatic Center tomorrow (Thursday, February 17).
