Hope College

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Alan Babbitt

Pictured, clockwise from top left, Greta Gidley, Bella Turner, Laurel Wasiniak and Claudia Busse

Women's Swimming and Diving 3/22/2026 12:46:00 AM Alan Babbitt

Women's Swim/Dive Clocked Another National Runner-Up Relay, Top 10 Finish

The special Hope College senior class in the pool went out in style.

Led by three accomplished seniors in their final race, the Flying Dutch touched the wall in the 400-yard freestyle relay as national runner-up and secured another Top-10 finish at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Senior Bella Turner (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea), freshman Claudia Busse (Grand Haven, Michigan / Grand Haven), senior Laurel Wasiniak (Northville, Michigan / Northville) and senior Greta Gidley (Franklin, Michigan / Mercy) clocked a school-record swim of 3:20.17 to match the program's best finish in the event at nationals.

The relay hung on eventual national champion New York University's heels before equaling Hope's 1998 national runner-up performance. NYU went 3:28.66, nearly two seconds faster than prelims.

"We felt the whole season like this could be a pretty special relay for us," head coach Jake Taber said. "That was an unbelievable way to end this season."

Earlier in the day, Hope clocked the third-fastest 400-free relay qualifying time with a school-record effort. Gidley, Busse, Turner and Wasiniak posted a school-record 3:22.23, topping the old mark of 3:22.41 by Lauren Ryle, Turner, Gidley and Wasiniak.

The relay — Hope's second national runner-up finish of the meet — capped the Orange and Blue's third Top-10 effort at nationals in four years and the 17th in program history. The Flying Dutch totaled 159 points over four days, 21 more than 10th-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

It was also the first time the Flying Dutch finished in the Top-10 at the NCAA Championships in back-to-back seasons since 1999 and 2000.

"Having this caliber of big-meet experience makes a difference," Taber said. "When you look at the number of seniors that we have on the women's group … they're resilient. They were able to stay focused, just believing what they were capable of doing and trusting the training process. Everything paid off unbelievably well."

Hope also captured three more All-America accolades.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Gidley posted a fifth-place time of 50.05 seconds, a season-best and earned the fifth First-Team All-America accolade of her career.

During prelims, Gidley tied for the third-fastest qualifying time at a season-best 50.22 seconds, trailing the meet record of 48.26 by Kaley McIntrye of New York University and 49.96 from Maeve O'Donnell of NYU.

Wasiniak took 10th and earned Second-Team All-America honors after eclipsing the 50-second mark during the consolation final at 49.94. Wasiniak advanced to the consolation final after a prelim swim of 50.58.

During the 100-free prelims, Turner recorded a 22nd-place swim of 50.94. Busse was 40th at 51.80.

In the 200 backstroke, freshman Makenzie Baldwin (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) claimed Second-Team All-America distinction by placing 15th in the consolation final at 2:00.53. Baldwin went 2:01.62 during prelims.

Hope competed in two more events during prelims.

In 3-meter diving, freshman Grace Dawson (Jackson, Michigan / Western) finished 20th with an 11-dive total of 409.15 points. Junior Laura Zupanci (Fort Collins, Colorado / Liberty Common) was 28th with 372.45 points.

In the 200 breaststroke, senior Madi Remenschneider (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) capped her career with a 38th-place swim of 2:23.35.

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Ryle: Back/Free; Senior; Psychology

Madi Remenschneider: Senior; Psychology

Bella Turner: Senior; Psychology

Laurel Wasiniak: Senior; Engineering

Makenzie Baldwin: Freshman

Claudia Busse: Freshman

Grace Dawson: Freshman

Greta Gidley: Fifth Year; Elementary Education

Players Mentioned

Lauren Ryle
: Senior; Psychology
: Back/Free

Madi Remenschneider
: Senior; Psychology

Bella Turner
: Senior; Psychology

Laurel Wasiniak
: Senior; Engineering

Makenzie Baldwin
: Freshman

Claudia Busse
: Freshman

Grace Dawson
: Freshman

Greta Gidley
: Fifth Year; Elementary Education