Hope College head coach Jake Taber emerged from the pool soaking wet after his swimmers egged him into jumping into the water.

It was worth the post-meet celebration.

Hope College cruised to its 23rd league championship on Saturday at the 2021 MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by Calvin University. It is the Flying Dutch's second title in the last three years.

Hope finished with 961.5 points. Calvin University was second with 931 points, Albion College third with 732, Kalamazoo College fourth with 403.5, Alma College fifth with 307, and Olivet College sixth with 246.

"I knew it was going to be close," head coach Jake Taber said of the battle with Calvin. "It could have gone either way. This was the goal. It's what we set out to do. We went out and earned it and Calvin kept us honest in doing it."

Taber said this was his first time taking a plunge in the Calvin University pool.

"Fortunately I had a change of clothes with me today," he said with a laugh.

Emma Schaefer, pictured top right, is going to graduate as one of the most decorated swimmers in Hope College history.

The senior was named MIAA Most Valuable Swimmer for the second-straight year after setting another school record on Saturday, her third of the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships. 

She is the first Flying Dutch to repeat as the league's most valuable swimmer since Libby Westrate in 2013.

"I'm really proud of her," Taber said. "She's someone who makes coaches look good. I feel like her successes are earned on how hard she works. Looking at her three wins this weekend, the way that came together was not accidental."

Schaefer of Dewitt (Saint Johns HS) topped her own school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:03.75. 

Schaefer's previous record was 1:04.826, which she swam in February 2020.

In third place was Hope's Maddie Kievit, a freshman from Grandville (Grandville HS), in 1:08.18. and junior Aubrey East of Farmington Hills (North Farmington HS) was fourth in 1:08.29. 

Madeline Tessin, pictured bottom right, is already and emphatically marking her mark on the Hope swimming program after Saturday's 50-yard freestyle. The freshman from Waxhaw, N.C. (Marvin Ridge HS) is the fastest woman at the meet after winning the 50 in 23.60 seconds. It is the second fastest time in school history. The record is 23.34 by Libby Westrate in 2013. Freshman Alexis Nelson of Chelsea (Chelsea HS), had a fifth-place finish (24.26).

"Despite it being in the 50, it was a convincing win," Taber said of Tessin. "She's been showing signs of getting there. She was the top seed, but there were others who had faster times during their careers. The most exciting things was her best swim this morning. It was a complete swim. She got off the blocks well."

Junior Abby LaDuke, of Holland, Mich. (West Ottawa HS), had a strong swim in the 1,650-yard freestyle. She finished in second place in a time of 17:48.53. LaDuke's time is the 10th best in school history. Freshman Jess Estabrook of Carmel, Ind. (Carmel HS) finished fourth in 18:13.81. 

Freshman Delaney Wesolek of Bay City (John Glenn HS), finished second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.66. 

"We threw a lot on her on Thursday," Taber said of Wesolek. "It was nice for her to get a day to recover (on Friday). She had a singular focus in the 200 and she really stepped up."

In the 200-yard butterfly, Rachel Gamm of Rockford (Rockford HS) was Hope's top finisher with fifth place finish in 2:11.33. Sophomore Macey Mayer of San Antonio, Tex. (Johnson HS), was sixth in 2:12.93. 

In the 100-yard backstroke, Gamm finished third in 58.87. 

Estabrook had a strong swim in the 400-yard individual medley as she finished in third place in 4:45.31.

Junior Aubrey East finished fourth in 4:46.5 and sophomore Alyssa Kerkman of South Bend, Ind. (Saint Joseph HS), was fifth in 4:47.37.

In the 200 medley relay, Hope finished in second place with a time of 1:45.39. The team of Gamm, Schaefer, Maddy O'Donnell and Tessin finished second to Calvin, who won in 1:44.72. 

It was another strong day of diving for Sophia Farbarzhevich. The freshman from Grand Rapids (Forest Hills Northern HS) finished second in the 3-meter diving with 347.45 points. Freshman Cameron Hamilton of Libertyville, Illi. (Libertyville HS) finished in third place with 335.45 points. On Day 1, in the 1-meter diving, Hamilton finished third with 368.90 points and Farbarzhevich was in fourth with 344.50 points

On Day 1 of the MIAA meet, Schaefer set her first school record of the night in the 200-yard breaststroke with a dominating win in 2:18.55. Schaefer broke the 21-year-old mark of 2:18.68 recorded by Betsy VandenBerg in 2000, and that winning time by Schaefer was almost four seconds faster than Olivet's Jennifer Mann, who finished in second place (2:22.83). 

Two events later, Schaefer touched in with another win and record, this time in the 200-yard individual medley in which she is the two-time defending champ. Schaefer clocked a 2:04.92, besting her own previous record of 2:06.58 set in 2019 and coming in two seconds better than Calvin's Hannah Chao (2:06.22).