| Swim teams off to rocky start
By Ted Fackler and Erin O' Connor
Staff Writers
The soccer cleats have been unlaced and set aside. Lucky socks have been reluctantly washed and the folding of 50 pairs of volleyball practice spandex shorts has commenced. Amidst the imminent hibernation of fall sports, one winter sport has emerged. Basketball may be practicing, but the Calvin swim teams have already entered battle and they’ve got the scars to prove it.
Due to a strong leadership core of upperclassmen combined with the unexpected talent of the freshman class, Calvin’s swim team has high hopes for this year’s season. Last Saturday served as the testing ground for these hopes, as the Knights beckoned Wheaton College into Bergsma Natatorium for the first dual meet of the season. Wheaton College played the test dummy, a chance for Calvin to test the bomb out, to see how big of an explosion their talents would render upon the MIAA. Unfortunately, the test violently backfired, spitting shrapnel all about. Simply put: the bomb blew up in the Knights' faces, sending them back to practice this week choking on the bitter black powder of loss.
Last year, Calvin men took the back seat to the Wheaton Thunder in the NCAA III Championships by a considerable margin of 75.5 points. But on Saturday, the Thunder unfairly snuck out from behind an allusive horizon to rain on Calvin’s parade. Calvin led entering the final event, only to witness a come-from-behind Wheaton victory as Calvin succumbed to the storm 113.5-109.5. A bitter loss. The event was the 400 freestyle relay. Wheaton’s top relay team finished a half-second ahead of Calvin’s relay with a time of 3:17.98. Coming in second was Calvin’s relay quartet of Luke Bagnall, Jake VanderPlas, Ryan Johnson and Dan Hekman. Despite this valiant effort, Wheaton also snuck in a third place finish from their “B” relay team, thus taking the meet. The loss was a hard one, especially for the other outstanding stars that fought so hard to win.
Freshman J.D. Schaumberg claimed a pair of victories throughout the day, winning the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions, 202.4 and 212.3. Senior A.J. Penninga took first place in the 200 freestyle with a season-best time of 1:46.89.
Also chipping in were sophomore Peter Boumgarden, taking first in the 200-butterfly (2:04.31) while senior Ryan Johnson took first in the 50-freestyle (22.61). Among the six first place finished for the Calvin men, none was more spectacular than sophomore Ryan Preston’s thrilling victory, coming from behind in the final ten meters of the 200 breaststroke and winning the event over a Wheaton competitor by two-tenths of a second (2:18.52). Rounding out the first places was the 400-medley relay of VanderPlas, Preston, Boumgarden and Penninga with a time of 3:37.57. Despite all these valiant efforts, the meet ultimately came down to the final 400-freestyle relay. After six lead changes throughout the day, the Knights succumbed to Wheaton by a half-second. Just a half-second.
The Calvin women also fell to Wheaton, finishing a mere 13 points behind. Although Wheaton took first in eight of the thirteen events, the Knights still put up a respectable effort behind the leadership of several local stars. Holland native Katie Nagelkirk took first place in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.69 while Grand Haven freshman Abby Johnson amazed everyone with a near record breaking time of 2:13.93 in the 200 individual medley. She missed the Calvin record by a half-second. Also putting in an outstanding performance was Florida native Sarah TerHaar, who claimed two first place finishes. Like Schaumberg of the men’s team, TerHaar also won both the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions, with scores of 196.55 and 226.95.
Considering the relays, the women Knights treaded water on the way to reigning supreme in the 400-freestyle relay. Jen Kool, Lynn Visser and Abby Johnson put the Knights in reasonable contention for Nagelkirk to anchor the team to a time of 3:44.36, edging out Wheaton top relay by seven-hundredths of a second.
Losses are hard to swallow. Everyone understands that, especially when the loss is by such a small margin.
But like all good teams, they rebound, finding their way out of the storm and into sunnier territory, to dry off and claim dominance once again. Calvin’s chance to do so comes this Friday at the Quadrangular Meet.
Redeeming themselves won’t be an easy tasks, competing against the talents of Hope, Kalamazoo and Denison. This will be Calvin’s chance to reverse the fate of last Saturday, to pick up the wreckage and construct their own little bomb of talent. Heaven knows it’s time to release it. Wait! Did somebody say bomb? Forget the meet, cancel classes!
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