The Hope College women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams both have claimed Scholar All-America honors from the College Swim and Dive Coaches Association of America.
Led by head coach Jake Taber, the Flying Dutch earned the women’s honor with a 3.57 team grade point average, while the Flying Dutchmen earned their honor with a 3.09 team GPA.
CSCAA made selections based on student-athletes' spring semester grade point averages. In total, 721 programs from 426 institutions received the distinction. CSCAA will name its individual Scholar All-America team next week.
Head coach Jake Taber said he is proud of his student-athletes and everything they were able to accomplish this year.
In the pool, the Flying Dutch won the MIAA champions for the second time in three years and the 23rd time overall, while the Flying Dutchmen had their best finish in seven years with a runner-up effort.
“This group is accustomed to achieving at a high level. They do that in the classroom, in the water, and in life,” Taber said. “We spend a lot of time discussing bigger picture items, things that just flat out have to come before sport, and one of them is their academics. I'm proud of the way the team succeeded this year despite different and new learning situations.
“We discussed resilience quite a bit this year and there were some situations where individuals or classes went from in person to virtual overnight and this group took it in stride and continued to prioritize the primary reason they're here at Hope College.”