Spark

Elise Bajwa ’27 is the first one to admit she would not be a student at Calvin University if not for her older brother, David Bajwa ’25.

The Bajwa siblings had a connection to Calvin through their grandmother and aunt, who are both alumnae. As a senior in high school at The Heights School in Bethesda, Maryland, David visited Calvin and was hooked. “Calvin checked a lot of boxes right away,” he says. “I had relatives close by. It had a strong engineering program and a strong swim program. I came for a campus visit and liked Coach [Dan] Gelderloos, and that pretty much sealed my decision.”

Elise remained in Maryland, competing in both field hockey and swimming while attending Brookewood School, an all-girls academy in the Bethesda area. Her swim times began to drop considerably as a senior in high school, and collegiate swimming came into focus. Calvin was not initially on her radar, but her older brother refused to let her get away.

“Calvin wasn’t on my list because it didn’t have the academic program I was initially interested in, but my brother kept calling me every day for nearly two months telling me I needed to come to Calvin,” says Elise. “Then he started having people on the Calvin swim team call me or text me. People were contacting me every day, many that I had never met before.”

David simply grins when recalling the memory. “I just knew she would be a great fit at Calvin, and the swim program and the community would be great for her as well.”

Elise ultimately elected to join David at Calvin and has not looked back since.

David had a solid start to his Calvin career, scoring points at the conference championships as a freshman and then winning a league title in the 400 IM as a sophomore to earn a spot on the 2023 All-MIAA team. As a junior, he took off like a rocket ship, winning three MIAA individual titles (50 freestyle, 100 and 200 backstroke) while earning MIAA MVP honors and another spot on the All-MIAA team. He later earned All-America honors in seven events (four relays, three individual) at the NCAA III Championships, helping Calvin finish seventh in the final team standings.

“David is a deep thinker who likes to figure things out and get the right answer,” says Calvin head swim coach Dan Gelderloos. “He takes that analytical way of thinking into his training, and that has helped him progress as a swimmer. His teammates look up to him. He is not real vocal, but everyone sees what he is doing in the pool and follows his lead.”

Elise had a strong first-year campaign during the 2024 season, finishing fourth in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 200 breaststroke at the 2024 MIAA Championships. She later qualified for the 2024 NCAA III Championships as a member of Calvin’s 200 and 400 medley relay teams and earned All-America accolades in both races. Offseason hip surgery slowed the start to her sophomore campaign, but she returned to the pool in November to crank out strong swims in the breaststroke and relay events with a return trip to the NCAA III Championships in her sights.

“Elise is different than David in that she is an extrovert. She is social and active and is a leader in her own way,” says Gelderloos. “She hasn’t been fully healthy, which can be frustrating for some individuals, but she has kept a strong focus and been one of our most consistent performers when it comes to meets and high-quality swims.”

The Bajwa siblings also excel in the classroom, though they have their sights set on different professional goals. David is a civil engineering major. His senior engineering project is centered on developing an indoor air quality system designed to remove by-products in pools and aquatic centers. After graduation, he hopes to practice engineering at a water treatment and waste removal facility. Elise is pursuing a double major in philosophy and criminology with minors in German and social work. Her post-graduation goal is to become a police officer.