HOPE WOMEN'S SWIM/DIVE ORIGINS AND MILESTONES
The women's swimming and diving program became an intercollegiate sport at Hope in 1978. The sports has become one of the college's most successful intercollegiate programs with numerous conference championships individual national championships and Top Ten team finishes.
Hope College was host to the NCAA Division III national swimming and diving championships at the Holland Aquatics Center in 2005.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Shelly Russell tops the Flying Dutch as a national champion in seven events: 500 and 1,650 freestyle in 1987, 200, 500, and 1,650 freestyle in 1988, and 200 and 500 freestyle in 1989. She set national records in the 500 freestyle in 1987 and the 500 and 1,650 freestyle in 1988.
Susan and Sara Looman, who are twin sisters, finished one-two in the 100-yard backstroke at the 1994 NCAA Division III national championships. It was the first time in the history of the national meet that sisters, let alone twin sisters, finished one-two in an event.
Betsy Vandenberg repeated as NCAA champion in the 200 breaststroke in 2001. She set an NCAA record in the event in 2001.
Dawn Hoving won NCAA champions in the 200 butterfly in 1992 and both the 100 and the 200 butterfly in 1993.
Sarah Sheridan claimed the school's first NCAA diving championship as a senior in 2016. She won on the 3-meter board in Greensboro, N.C., with a score of 478.4 points. She was named the College Swimming Coaches Association of America diver of the meet. She ended her career as a six-time All-American in diving. In 2015, Sheridan finished national runner-up in 3-meter diving with a score of 477.85 points at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships. She also finished third in 1-meter diving with a score of 466.15 points to earn All-American honors in both events for the second consecutive season. In 2014, she became the first diver in Hope swimming/diving history to achieve NCAA All-American honors on both boards. She finished seventh at nationals on both the one-meter and three-meter boards.
OTHER SWIMMERS AND DIVERS OF NOTE
Chelsea Wiese was presented the 2012 NCAA Elite 89 award for maintaining the highest cumulative grade point average among all of the competitors in the NCAA Division III swimming and diving championships. The Elite 89 award is presented to the top scholar-athlete at each of the 89 NCAA championships held annually. An accounting major. Wiese maintained a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average. Co-captain of the team, Wiese was the 2012 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) champion in the 200 and 400 yard individual medley events and competed at nationals with teammates in four relay events.
There were no sibling rivalries when it came to Hope's swimming program in 2008-09 as the men's and women's teams had five sets of brothers and sisters -- Laura (senior) and Steven (freshman) Ansilio, Lisa (freshman) and Phil (junior) Heyboer, Elizabeth (freshman) and Ryan (junior) Nelis, Andrew (freshman) and Matt (junior) Rose, and Christina (junior) and Ryan (senior) Vogelzang.
The first meet of the 2020-21 season occurred three months later than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Flying Dutch finally competed on January 23, 2021, and split a dual meet at Holland Community Aquatic Center — defeating Saginaw Valley State University, 148-90, and losing to Grand Valley State University, 167-74.
Greta Gidley finished national runner-up in the 200 individual medley at the NCAA Division III Championships in both her sophomore and junior seasons (2023 and 2024).
COACHES OF NOTE
The program has been built from the ground up by John Patnott. Patnott was the founding coach of the Hope swim/dive program in 1978. At this retirement in 2019 after 36 years at the helm, he was the winningest active coach of any sport in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Three times in his career he has been honored as the Division III national coach of the year. He coached more than 121 NCAA All-Americans, including national champions on 31 occasions, and 41 Academic All-Americans since 1984.
Jake Taber '04 was hired as Hope College's co-head men's and women's swimming & diving coach on April 10, 2018. He took over sole head coaching duties after John Patnott's retirement following the 2018-19 season. Taber swam for Patnott when he was a student-athlete.
