Swim/Dive Primed for NCAA Championships After Challenging Schedule in the Pool

The Hope College men's and women's swimming and diving teams set out to challenge themselves throughout the season.

Now, they're primed to compete at the NCAA Division III Championships.

The MIAA men's and women's champions have 11 qualifiers for the four-day national meet that opens on Wednesday, March 16, at 10 a.m. at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. There are six women's swimmers, one women's diver, and four men's swimmers.

Photo of Ben Catton by Lynne Powe

An intentionally competitive schedule prepared the Flying Dutchmen and Flying Dutch for this moment, head coach Jake Taber said.

"We were really fortunate to have the support this year to do some things with our schedule, including opportunities to see a lot of teams we haven't seen in other seasons," Taber said. "We went to the D3Shootout in November at the University of Chicago. We took our midseason meet down to Kenyon (Ohio) for their invitational.

"We've been able to get to some big meets throughout our season that will serve us well this weekend."

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The NCAA Division III Championships are the first since 2019. The past two national meets were canceled due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

On the women's side, senior Emma Schaefer (DeWitt, Michigan / St. Johns HS) will be joined by five other swimmers - freshman Sara Kraus (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford), junior Alyssa Kerkman (South Bend, Ind. / St. Joseph), sophomore Madeline Tessin (Waxhaw, N.C. / Marvin Ridge), freshman Katie Weedon (Whitinsville, Massachusetts / Whitinsville Christian), and sophomore Delaney Wesolek (Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan / Grosse Pointe North), and freshman diver Abby Koops (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Northern).

"It's nice to have a large number here. We're going to be able to compete in a lot of races because of the numbers we have," Taber said. "We have a largely young group with no championship experience other than Emma. In some regards, that's a great combination."