The swim teams had strong showings at the MIAA relays, with the women taking first in nine events and the men taking first in eight.
The wins on the women’s side were as follows: senior Kristy Kinzer, sophomore Michaela Rookus, junior Lexi Scott and junior Kathryn Wrobel in the 200 medley relay; junior Erika Waugh, Kinzer, freshman Megan Schroder and junior Betsy Otten in the 200 backstroke relay; Scott, freshman Adrienne Wesselius, freshman Nicole Karl and Rookus in the 200 breaststroke relay; Wrobel, Waugh and senior Elizabeth Schleh in the 1,500 freestyle relay; Kinzer, Waugh, Otten and Schroder in the 100 backstroke relay; Scott, Wesselius, Karl and Rookus in the 100 breaststroke relay; Rookus, Wesselius and senior Margaret Rechel in the 100 freestyle relay; Scott, Waugh, sophomore Alayna Gallegos and Kinzer in the 4×100 medley relay; and Rookus, Schroder, Rechel and Wrobel in the 200 freestyle relay.
Kinzer commented on her four wins saying, “I was more focused on how my teammates were doing and the overall atmosphere on deck — that’s what this meet is about. We did a fantastic job of cheering each other on and getting people’s enthusiasm up. As a senior, your perspective changes from trying to prove yourself to the team and how you fit into the puzzle to getting excited for everyone else. This year, it feels like we’re much more of a family and that’s what takes teams places.”
Overall, Kinzer was pleased with how her teammates performed. “On the performance side of things, I was extremely impressed. Calvin dominated just about every relay on both the men’s and women’s side and some people swam personal best times or close to it.”
Looking out to the rest of season, Kinzer thinks that Calvin’s women will be tough to beat. “We have a different mindset this year — we’re focusing on swimming smarter, not just swimming stronger. I think that many girls will surprise themselves by the end of the season with how fast they’ll be and I think people are taking more chances in training to improve. People are giving themselves a chance rather than being afraid of what they can do. We have a very deep team and I have high hopes for this season. Many people ask us about Hope and how close the rivalry will be this year; it will be a tight race at MIAAs, but we’re not taking the defensive position here. Our focus is on building up our own team; as a result, no one will be able to take us down.”
The men took first place in the following events:
Senior Andrew Mitchell, sophomore Johnson Cochran, senior Peter Johnson and sophomore Mitch Schroder in the 200 medley relay; freshman Brett Stoughton, sophomore Brandon Muma, freshman Jesse Ruter and Mitchell in the 200 backstroke relay; Stoughton, Muma, junior Nathan Terschak and Johnson in the 100 butterfly relay; Stoughton, Muma, Ruter and Mitchell in the 100 backstroke relay; freshman Eli Holstege, freshman Marshall Campbell, junior Andrew Vanderlei and Cochran in the 100 breaststroke relay; Mitchell, Schroder, junior Alex Baumann and Holstege in the 100 freestyle relay; sophomore Caleb Meindertsma, sophomore Aaron Venema and Baumann in the 1,500 freestyle relay; Stoughton, Cochran, Mitchell and Johnson in the 4×100 medley relay.
