By Erin Miller

Editor-in-chief

For the first time in Calvin history, the Lady Knights swim team defeated Hope in a dual meet.

Saturday's win also brought an end to Hope's streak of 50 straight wins in dual meets, a streak that stretches back nearly a decade.

``We knew going in it was going to be tough,'' swimming coach Dan Gelderloos said. ``We knew it was going to be close.''

However, the final score was not as close as Gelderloos predicted--the Knights finished with 139 to Hope's 101.

``The girls came in fired-up,'' Gelderloos said. ``We didn't let anything affect us. We lost the first three events, but then won eight of the next 10.''

Included with those wins was a sweep of the top awards in the 50-meter freestyle and the three-meter diving board. Junior Katie Naglekirk took first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.88, followed by senior Erin Kloostra with 25.46. Freshman Courtney Bechler took third, with a time of 26.55.

On the three-meter board, sophomore Sara TerHaar took first, with a final score of 198.50. Freshman Anna Battoclette was second with 175.80, and sophomore Melissa Huffman was third with 174.55.

Huffman and TerHaar placed first and second, respectively, on the one-meter board.

Gelderloos said the diving team was doing well this year.

``We have a much improved diving squad,'' he said. ``We probably potentially have the combination of the best three divers in the league.''

Winning two individual events for Calvin was junior Anne Kuiper, who took first in the 200-meter Individual Medley (IM) and 200-meter breaststroke. Bechler also took first in an individual event, the 200-meter backstroke.

The team of Kloostra, senior Kate Conrad, Bechler and Naglekirk took first in the 400-meter freestyle relay with a time of 3:41.44. That time, Gelderloos said, shows the team's potential for success later in the season.

``Our 400 freestyle relay was faster than ever at this point in the year,'' he said.

Gelderloos said the team hopes to repeat as conference champions this year, but before that, the team must survive the most intense part of the season - the two months of training prior to Christmas.

``We need to try to stick together through Christmas training, helping each other out,'' he said. ``The only thing that stands in our way is ourselves.

``We're looking to have as good of a season as ever,'' he added.