After finishing national runner up twice in the 200-yard individual medley, Hope College fifth-year Greta Gidley knew she only had one more shot.
One shot to reach her goal of going sub-2 minutes, and winning the national championship, Hope’s first swimming title in a quarter century.
Gidley used a strong middle portion of her race to win the NCAA Division III championship in the 200 IM in 1:59.20 on Wednesday, March 18, in Indianapolis.
“Honestly, winning that race has been a goal of mine for the past four years and to be able to go out in my last one ever, go a best time, and win was the greatest feeling ever,” Gidley said. “Most importantly I think, I did it my way.”
Gidley began her collegiate career at the University of Michigan before transferring to Hope to start fresh.
“Four years ago, I had quit swimming and was looking for somewhere to transfer to in hopes of finding a new place to call home. I was anxious and scared, but God redeemed my story and ended up giving me a life better than anything I could’ve ever imagined,” Gidley said. “Hope is the greatest place on earth, and I could go on for days about how much this place has changed my life. Truly I’m just so grateful to Hope swim and dive and the entire Hope community for supporting and loving me these past four years.”
Gidley was fourth after the butterfly and backstroke (57.74), then surged to first in the breaststroke leg (32.64) and closed with a freestyle split of 28.82 to win the race by two seconds.
“The work had been done. Not just the training, but she has been in a good head space with a healthy perspective. She knows what she is capable of and she went out loving the sport and having a blast with it,” Hope coach Jake Taber said. “Good things happen when that is in place. She went for it and it was fantastic. The last woman to win a national title was a captain my freshman year. That is an elite group. She believed that she could, but even that she would. You knew the will was there.”
Emory’s Sammi Theile and Kenyon’s Kelsey Van Eldik tied for second place with swims of 2:01.25.
On Thursday, Gidley teamed with Claudia Busse, Laurel Wasiniak and Bella Turner to finish NCAA runner-up in the 200 freestyle relay (1:31.44).
Wasiniak teamed with Makenzie Baldwin (West Ottawa), Madi Remenschneider (West Ottawa) and Emme D’Errico to finish 11th in the 400 medley relay (3:46.32).
Wasiniak finished 11th in the 50 freestyle (23.14). Katie Hermann was 14th in the 400 IM (4:28.88). D’Errico also made the B final of the 400 IM but was disqualified for a non-simultaneous touch on her butterfly.
Hope men’s swimmer Josh Bordovsky claimed second-team All-American honors and lowered his school and MIAA record in the 200-yard individual medley. He went 1:47.88 during prelims and 1:49.10 in finals. Bordovsky went 1:47.88 during the morning prelims.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Greta Gidley cements legacy with Hope’s first swimming NCAA title in 25 years
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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