The No. 12 Hope College men's swimming and diving team wrapped up competition at the D3 Shootout at the University of Chicago in fourth place, tying the team's highest-ever finish in the event.
The Flying Dutch tallied 546.5 points during the weekend to match the finish by the 2022-23 squad. Third-ranked Chicago topped the field with 705 points, while No. 15 WashU finished second with a score of 603.5. No. 11 Pomona-Pitzer rounded out the podium with 577.5 points to place third.
Seven of the 10 teams competing were ranked or received votes in the latest CSCAA Top 25 poll.
Junior
Josh Bordovsky (Herndon, Virginia / South Lakes) was Hope's top individual finisher on the final day of competition, placing second in the 200 individual medley. Bordovsky closed the race faster than anyone in the A final, moving from fifth to second in the final 50 yards with a 26.61 in the freestyle leg.
In the 100 freestyle, junior
Blake Hetherington (Jackson, Michigan / Lumen Christi) clocked a season-best time of 45.63 to place third.
Juniors Joseph Engle (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) and
Everett Cox (Sugar Land, Texas / Logos Prep) turned in season-best performances in the 500 freestyle to add valuable points. Engle placed fourth in the A final with a time of 4:38.52, while Cox finished third in the B final, touching the wall at 4:36.91.
The format of the D3 Shootout allows each team to enter two swimmers in each event – one in an A flight and the other in a B flight. Each of the 10 teams involved in the meet entered eight swimmers plus a diver to compete.
Hope also had success in the session's two relay events.
In the 200 freestyle relay, the team of senior
Christian Hoeksema (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian), senior
Graham Eisenmann (Ozark, Missouri / Ozark), Cox, and Hetherington tied for second with a time of 1:22.55. Hetherington's anchor leg of 20.22 vaulted the Flying Dutch from fourth into a tie with SUNY-Geneseo for second. The team from Pomona-Pitzer touched one-hundredth of a second behind to finish fourth.
The 400 medley relay team of Bordovsky, Hoeksema, Eisenmann, and Hetherington finished fourth with a season-best time of 3:21.36. Hetherington's anchor proved crucial again, as his 44.85 freestyle in the final 100 yards allowed Hope to move from fifth into fourth place. It was also the second-fastest anchor leg in the race.
