RESULTS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin men's swimming and diving team had a record-breaking opening night of competition at the MIAA Championships Wednesday night inside the Venema Aquatic Center.

Calvin's 800 freestyle relay team of senior David Bajwa (Bethesda, Md./The Heights School), senior Josh Seidelman (Novi, Mich./Northville HS), senior Jack Kulaga (Downers Grove, Il./Downers Grove South HS) and junior Charles Platt (Downers Grove, Il./Downers Grove North HS) churned through the Venema Aquatic Center surf in a school and MIAA-record time of 6:33.26. The time is a strong NCAA III B' cut time that currently ranks sixth on the NCAA III performance list. It also broke the previous MIAA and Calvin record of 6:37.94 set at the 2024 MIAA Championships. The relay should allow Kulaga to earn his first trip to the NCAA III Championships, doing so in his final year of collegiate swimming.

Bajwa opened the race with a 200 freestyle split of 1:37.76 that was within earshot of the Calvin record of 1:37.39 set by Julian Iturbe in 2021. The 200 freestyle split by Bajwa was also a strong NCAA III B' cut qualifying time that ranks fourth on the national list.

In the consolation final, Calvin's B' 800 freestyle relay team of sophomore Ryan Halberg, junior Jacob Ziegler (Toledo, Oh./), freshman Diego Herrera Mora (Liberty Hill, Tx. CTP de Belen) and sophomore Andrew Stimpert (Normal, Il./Normal West HS) took 10^th with a season-best time of 6:45.31.

The relays bumped Calvin into a narrow 58-56 lead over rival Hope in the early team standings.

"I think we went 8-for-8 in our A' and B' relays with all eight guys swimming season-best splits," said Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. "Our (non-scoring) C' and D' relays also swam season-best times. The 800 (relay) has not always been our strong suit in the national rankings so it was awesome to see our guys produce an effort like that tonight. I am extremely happy for Jack Kulaga. He's worked his tail off and deserves this (NCAA III nationals) trip. It was a fast night in the pool and the intensity was high. We are looking forward to another big day of competition tomorrow."

Action continues on Thursday with prelims set for 10 a.m. and evening finals to follow at 5 p.m.