by Alan Babbitt

The Hope College men's and women's swimming & diving teams have been named Fall Scholar All-America Teams by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America.

The Flying Dutchmen and Flying Dutch claimed the honor by recording at least a 3.0 GPA during the fall semester. Each student-athlete who competed last fall must be included in the team's collective GPA.

Hope is led by co-head coaches John Patnott and Jake Taber.

"It is important to the coaches that our athletes are successful in the classroom," Patnott said. "Our priority for our athletes is faith, academics, family, and then athletics. The balance between swimming and diving with academics requires good time management and a commitment to be successful in both.

"We believe that the acquired time management skills will serve them well later in life."

Photo of Meg Peel, Daniel Clyde and Erin Emmert by Jon Lundstrom of Junebug Photography