Women’s swim & dive reels in first win since 2004

The women’s swim & dive team competed in a three and a half day competition this past weekend. Resulting in three relay wins, three new school records and a MIAA title, the team swam spectacularly. “Our races were so solid. Most of us were so focused on our own races and not worried about what [our opponents] were doing. It helped a lot to hone in and just swim for Coach Pattnot. It was really exciting,” said Meg Peel (’21). By the end of the meet, the Flying Dutch had a total of 810 points, while Calvin College took second with 793. By the final session of the meet, Abigail Brinks (’19) did the 1650 meter freestyle with a time of 17:42.17. This accomplishment gave her the first MIAA title in her swimming career. Paula Nolte (’20) also took first place in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:25.29.

Another first place mention goes to Erin Emmert (’20), who completed the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:06.07. This meet was one of the last for retiring co-head coach Jake Taber. “It doesn’t get a whole lot more poetic than the most legendary swim coach in MIAA history winning a championship in his last season,” said Taber. Men’s swim & dive also competed in the meet and ended in fourth place with a total of 467 points. Daniel Clyde (’20) took first place ending with a time of 1:52.39 in the 200 butterfly. Daniel Kieth (’21) took a narrow second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.76, missing first place by two hundredths of a second. Coach Jake Taber also commented at the meet, “We had some great swims. We had some step-up swims, some breakout swims, some inspirational swims with time drops. Just the way that the guys competed. I’m proud of every effort.