by Alan Babbitt

As freshman Colin Kalkman's hand prepared to touch the wall in the 400-yard freestyle final, celebration erupted on the pool deck and in the stands at the Holland Aquatic Center.

The Flying Dutchmen reigned as Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association champions again.

For the 13th time in team history, Hope claimed the league title after posting a winning, four-day total of 995 points. The Flying Dutchmen rallied past 2021 champion Calvin University on Saturday and finished 15 points ahead of the Knights for their first MIAA championship since 2010.

Hope also secured the first sweep of MIAA team titles since 2004 as the women repeated as league champs.

"I don't think there's anybody happier for our women than our men. And, nobody is happier for our men than our women," head coach Jake Taber said. "This is something they set out to do. We felt like we had the group to do it. Boy, did they deliver this weekend."

The 2022 teams joined seven others who swept MIAA crowns: 2004, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1987, and 1986.

Hope's MIAA Championships

Eight first-place performances during the four-day meet, including three on Saturday, propelled  the Flying Dutchmen.

"I tried not to get caught up in the numbers. I challenged our team to do the same," Taber said. "We didn't want to waste any energy on any stuff that wasn't going to make a difference. We wanted to make sure the energy that we were putting forward was doing something — that was creating the environment for the people who still needed to compete and just being as positive as we could.

"Things couldn't have gone any better for us this morning," Taber said. "Every swim we had in prelims qualified for the A final. Then that group came in tonight and absolutely did their job, they were focused and executed their race strategies, providing the opportunity for us."

The Flying Dutchmen secured the team title by placing runner-up in the 400 freestyle final and 11th in the consolation race. 

The second-place relay of sophomore Ben Catton, freshman Conner Halberg, freshman Joel Cummins, and Kalkman finished in 3 minutes, 2.03 seconds for 36 points. The 11th-place relay of junior Jackson Uyl, freshman Alex Boersema, junior Bailey Smith, and sophomore Conor East recorded a time of 3:09.57.

Individually, Hope went 1-2 in three events: the 1,650-yard freestyle, the 200 backstroke, and the 200 breaststroke.

In the 1,650 freestyle, Halberg (Novi, Michigan / Northville), pictured left, recorded a winning swim of 15 minutes, 59.57 seconds. Smith was runner-up at 16:07.98.

Freshman Joey Grasman finished fourth at 16:28.86. Junor Theo Duong placed eighth at 16:36.23. Sophomore Reilly LaGrand also scored with a 13th-place finish of 17:12.47.

In the 200 backstroke, Kalkman (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian), pictured right, clocked a first-place swim of 1:48.56. Catton finished runner-up at 1:49.72. Freshman Dallas Fisher was seventh at 1:58.58.

In the 200 breaststroke, junior Ted Lockett (Cincinnati, Ohio / St. Xavier), pictured left, posted a winning time of 2:02.43. Christian Dunaitis placed runner-up at 2:03.92.

LaGrand took fourth at 2:05.89. Junior Jack Muller (Queensland, Australia / Meridian State) was fifth at 2:08.15.

The Flying Dutchmen also qualified three championship finalists in the 200 butterfly and 100 freestyle.

In the 200 butterfly, East finished runner-up in 1:50.90. Jake Peterson placed fourth at 1:52.39. JT Nissen was seventh at 1:53.62.

In the 100 freestyle, Cummins clocked a fourth-place swim of 46.19. Uyl took fifth at 46.34. Boersema was eighth in 47.37.