Members of the Hope College swimming and diving teams have been honored for academic excellence during the 1999-00 school year by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

The women's program has been honored as a team for the ninth consecutive year having achieved a cumulative 3.539 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Hope's GPA ranked third among all NCAA Division III colleges behind only Wellesley, Mass. (3.562) and St. Catherine, Minn. (3.56). The only other MIAA women's team to be honored was Alma (3.27).

In addition, nine swimmers were designated Academic All-Americans by the coaches association. To be eligible, the student-athlete needed to have qualified for the NCAA Division III national championships and maintained at least a 3.5 grade point average.

Hope swimmers honored were Jenna Anderson of Cincinnati, Ohio (Anderson HS), Thomas Bouwens of Zeeland (Zeeland HS), Colleen Doyle of Rochester Hills (Marian HS), Jarod Lippert of Alma (Alma HS), Laura Smith of Dearborn (Dearborn HS), Erinn Van Auken of Holland (West Ottawa HS), sisters Elizabeth and Erin VandenBerg of Beverly Hills (Southfield Christian HS), and Scott Vroegindewey of Kalamazoo (Portage Central HS).

The Hope teams are coached by John Patnott. Last year the women's team won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) championship while the men's team finished second. Both teams finished sixth in their respective NCAA Division III national championship meets.