by Alan Babbitt
The Hope College men's swimming and diving team is looking forward to a promising future after competing at the NCAA Division III Championships this weekend in Indianapolis.
With four underclassmen competing, the Flying Dutchmen placed 36th in the team standings with five points.
It is Hope's highest finish at nationals since a 26th-place at the 2010 NCAA Championships.
"It's a young team," head coach Jake Taber said after Saturday's finale of the four-day meet. "We were incredibly proud of our conference championship. We were excited to raise a banner for the first time since 2010. I think this week showed us what's around the country and some things we need to do to continue to elevate our program.
"This experience will have us motivated and hungry."
On Saturday, freshman Colin Kalkman, pictured, led the Flying Dutchmen with a 23rd-place finish in the 200 backstroke.
Kalkman (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian HS) clocked a time of 1 minute, 49.58 seconds during preliminaries.
In the 400 freestyle relay, Kalkman led off the 400 freestyle relay that finished 24th. Kalkman teamed with sophomore Ben Catton (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian), freshman Conner Halberg (Novi, Michigan / Northville), and junior Jack Muller (Queensland, Australia / Meridian State) with a time of 3:05.10.
Calton finished 38th in the 100 freestyle with a swim of 45.20 during preliminaries.
