Metin Aydin spent a year “living out of a backpack” in pursuit of his swimming aspirations.

After settling in with the University of Hawaii men’s program last fall, the Rainbow Warrior sophomore packed up again this week for a trip to the NCAA championships.

The trek from Honolulu to Indianapolis represents just a fraction of a journey that began in Germany and took Aydin to Division II Grand Valley State in Michigan for his first year of college. He spent the better part of a year training in Turkey in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics, hopping to meets around Europe.

After falling short of that goal, Aydin and his fiancee, Bryndis Hansen, looked clear across the globe for their next stop and a Division I opportunity.

“We’re thankful for that,” Aydin said of their odyssey. “But on the other hand it was really stressful, so it’s nice to have someplace you can call home for a few years.”

Hansen competed in three events in the NCAA women’s championships last week and Aydin takes his turn in the men’s meet over the next three days at Indiana University Natatorium. He will be joined by sophomore diver Johan Sandell in representing UH in the NCAA championships.

Aydin begins his week in the 200-yard individual medley on Thursday and competes in the 100 backstroke on Friday. He’ll close with his strongest event, the 200 backstroke, on Saturday. Aydin is the 21st seed in the event with a UH-record time of 1 minute, 41.03 seconds.

“I talked to the coaches in the beginning of the season and we made a three-year plan,” said Aydin, who dropped more than three seconds off his best time in the 200 back at Grand Valley State. “I wanted to qualify and I’ve done that and now I have nothing to lose, just have fun and hopefully get a (personal) best time and if that’s enough that’s great.”

Aydin and Hansen met at the NCAA Division II championships in Indianapolis two years ago and got in contact with former UH coaches Victor Wales and Jennifer Buffin while training in Turkey. Although the program went through a coaching change while Aydin and Hansen were navigating the enrollment process, they decided to stick with UH and new head coach Dan Schemmel.

“Bryndis was in Florida (at Nova Southeastern University), so she already had the sun and everything,” Aydin said. “But I was in Michigan. So it’s like night and day right now, it’s crazy. Sun gives you power and you feel better than if you’re in snow all the time.”

Sandell came close to qualifying for the NCAA meet last year and broke through on all three heights as a sophomore. He earned his trip to Indianapolis by placing third in the 3-meter at the NCAA Zone E Qualifying meet in Flagstaff, Ariz., and will compete in the 1-meter on Thursday, the 3-meter on Friday and platform on Saturday.

Like Aydin, Sandell took a lengthy, although more direct, route to Hawaii after graduating from high school in Sweden.

“I had two (choices). I could keep studying in Sweden but not train as much as I want to or I could study abroad in the U.S. and keep with a diving career,” Sandell said after a practice last week at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

The experiences of other Swedish divers who attended UH in the past contributed to his decision to pursue both academics and diving in Manoa. The presence of Anita Rossing, a two-time Olympian for Sweden, on the UH coaching staff also eased his decision.

After falling short of an NCAA berth as a freshman, he added a new dive to each height in the offseason to increase his point potential.

“Now when I do a back 3 1/2 somersault in practice, I felt like I was calm during the dive,” he said. “In the beginning, maybe a little more than a year ago I was really nervous when I was doing the dive.

“I just take a deep breath and just go and try to not think as much.”