Hope College swimming and diving head coach Jake Taber ’04 has been elected to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Board of Directors by his peers.

Taber joins Trinity University (Texas) head coach Cathleen Pruden as NCAA Division III representatives on the board.

The CSCAA represents and advocates for all divisions of intercollegiate swimming and diving. The organization features nearly 2,000 members.

“It’s certainly an honor to be selected for this position,” Taber said. “There is so much happening and a lot of uncertainty surrounding college athletics right now. The opportunity to serve our sport, coaches and student-athletes is one I am honored to do.” 

Previously, Taber has chaired the CSCAA Division III Polls Committee for several years.

“Jake has a tireless dedication to advancing Division III swimming and diving,” said Samantha Barany, executive director of the CSCAA. “His leadership has already helped shape the national conversation through his work on the Division III Top 25 Polls. We are honored to have him bring his passion and insight to our Board of Directors.” 

Taber has been the head coach at Hope since the 2018-19 season.



In women’s swimming and diving, Taber has guided the Flying Dutch to four consecutive Top-20 finishes at the NCAA Division III championships: ninth in 2024-25, 15th in 2023-24, 10th in 2022-23 and 19th in 2021-22. He also led the Flying Dutch to six MIAA team championships, including five in a row (2021-25). 



Taber has coached five MIAA Most Valuable Women’s Swimmers, three MIAA Most Valuable Women’s Divers and MIAA champions in 68 individual and relay events combined. Taber was named MIAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year by his peers in 2024 and 2025.



In men’s swimming and diving, Taber guided Hope to one MIAA title and five runner-up finishes. Taber has led the Flying Dutchmen to an MIAA team championship in 2022, four runner-up finishes and two third-place efforts. He has coached MIAA champions in 36 individual and relay events combined.



Prior to returning to his alma mater, Taber served as head coach at Albion College (2012-18) and Olivet College (2007-12; now The University of Olivet). He also worked as an assistant coach under CSCAA Hall of Fame head coach John Patnott for three seasons at Hope.

 

The International Testing Agency (ITA), which oversees World Aquatics’ anti-doping programme, collected 1,413 samples from 680 athletes of 63 nationalities in the first quarter of 2025.

Out-of-competition testing accounted for the vast majority of samples, with 1,355 collected outside of competition periods. In-competition testing yielded an additional 58 samples.

Of the total samples collected:

• 959 were urine samples

• 454 were blood samples

These figures reflect a coordinated international effort to promote clean sport and uphold fair play. The continued increase in both volume and geographic reach of testing underlines World Aquatics’ commitment to safeguarding the integrity of aquatic sports. It also reinforces a strong dedication to transparency in the fight against doping.

You can access the AQIU’s anti-doping statistics page here.

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FanDuel has banned a bettor who bragged about heckling U.S. sprinter Gabby Thomas during a Grand Slam Track event and declared on social media that her loss in a race “made my parlay win.”

FanDuel announced the ban in a statement provided to media Wednesday.

“FanDuel condemns in the strongest terms abusive behavior directed towards athletes,” the statement reads. “Threatening or harassing athletes is unacceptable and has no place in sports. This customer is no longer able to wager with FanDuel.”

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Thomas, who won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics, competed in two races at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia last weekend. She finished second in the 200 meters on Saturday and fourth in the 100 meters on Sunday. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won both races.

The heckler describes himself as “The Track and Field Bully” in his social-media bio. He posted video of himself in the stands at the starting line of Sunday’s 100-meter race yelling at and heckling Thomas as runners prepared to take the starting blocks.

“Don’t choke, Gabby, like you did yesterday, Gabby,” he yelled. “You a choke artist. You going down, Gabby.”

This went on for more than a minute on the video, which included the heckler making comments about Thomas’ husband.

The heckler wrote alongside the video that “I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win.” The post included a screenshot of a $1,000 FanDuel parlay slip with Jefferson-Wooden picked to win.

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The heckler also posted separate video of himself yelling directly at Thomas as she walked on the track between events. Thomas responded with a smile, asking, “What are you doing here?”

Thomas responded to the heckler’s social-media post with one of her own Monday.

“This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults- anybody who enables him online is gross,” Thomas wrote.

She later responded to a comment on her post that supported the heckler:

“I think heckling is tolerable,” Thomas wrote. “… but following me around the stadium is weird in my opinion. But you’re both kinda weird so i can see why you think it’s normal.”

Grand Slam Track announced it was launching an investigation into the heckler in a statement provided to media on Monday.

“Grand Slam Track is conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behavior captured on video,” the league told Front Office Sports in a statement. “We are working to identify the individual involved and will take appropriate action as necessary. We will implement additional safeguards to help prevent incidents like this in the future. Let us be clear, despicable behavior like this will not be tolerated.”

The status of the investigation was not clear as of Wednesday afternoon.

An Oregon high school track and field star who refused to share a podium with a transgender athlete during the girls’ high jump medal ceremony alleged officials told her to move away from the ceremony if she wasn’t going to participate.

Tigard High School’s Alexa Anderson went viral when she protested the conclusion of the Oregon State Athletic Association’s Girls High Jump finale at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 31.

Anderson and Sherwood High School’s Reese Eckard, who finished in third and fourth place, stood behind the ascending podium in the infield during the ceremony because they refused to stand next to Ida B. Wells High School transgender student Liaa Rose, who placed fifth.

“We stepped off the podium in protest and, as you can see, the official kind of told us ‘Hey, go over there, if you’re not going to participate, get out of the photos,’” she told Fox News‘ “The Ingraham Angle.”

Anderson, a University of South Alabama commit, alleged that the area where they were told to stand was out of the view of the photographers.

“They asked us to move away from the medal stand, so when they took the photos, we weren’t even in it at all,” she told the outlet.

Anderson and Eckard had synchronously stepped off their respective platforms and turned their backs to the podium as the names of the top eight finishers were announced.

An official spotted them and pointed them away from the podium, frustrating Anderson.

Rose jumped 5 feet 1.65 inches in the competition, behind Eckard’s 5 feet 3 inches and Anderson’s 5 feet 4.25 inches.

Anderson and Eckard, both seniors, felt it was unfair for them to compete against a transgender opponent who competed in the boys’ division in 2023 and 2024.

“It’s unfair because biological males and biological females compete at such different levels that letting a biological male into our competition is taking up space and opportunities from all these hardworking women, the girl in ninth who should have came in eighth and had that podium spot taken away from her, as well as many others,” Anderson said.

Anderson said it was the first time she publicly protested a transgender athlete but had always supported other females who took a stand against the controversial policy in high school sports.

“This is the first public stand that I have taken in this issue, but I have privately supported all the girls that have done with positive messages, commenting on posts, just supporting them and letting them know I’m behind them in any way,” Anderson said. 

At the same time as Anderson’s protest, transgender athlete Verónica Garcia won the state Class 2A 400-meter dash in nearby Washington.

Garcia won the race by over a second and called out the critics for the dominating win against biological females.

“I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” Garcia told the outlet of the negativity.

“But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I’m going to push,” Garcia said after the race.

The 17-year-old senior from East Valley High School had made Washington State last year by being the first transgender athlete to win a title.

“I’m going to put this in the most PG-13 way, I’m just going to say it’s a damn shame they don’t have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people,” she added.

With Post wires

The timing of the agreement reflects a surge in U.S. interest in the sport. Volleyball is now the most-played team sport among U.S. high school girls, with growth accelerating from grassroots levels to global competition.

Felix von Knorring, Head of Media at Volleyball World, says: “This is a defining moment for volleyball in the U.S. For the first time, fans will have consistent, high-quality access to the biggest international matches featuring Team USA. We’re incredibly proud to partner with CBS Sports and Big Ten Network, two broadcasters that truly understand the sport and the passion of its fans. This partnership reflects Volleyball World’s ambition to take volleyball to new heights and bring the best of the global game to American audiences. It is just the beginning of what we believe will be a transformative era for volleyball in America.”

Billy Stone, Programming, CBS Sports, says: “The 2025 Volleyball Nations League is a welcome addition to our programming line-up this summer and we look forward to showcasing Team USA and the top players in the world competing for a World Championship.”

Michael Calderson, Senior Vice President of Programming and Digital Media at the Big Ten
Network, says: “The opportunity to carry the U.S. Women’s National Team on the Big Ten Network, alongside Big Ten volleyball and MPSF men’s and beach volleyball, is a true honor. As BTN continues its year-round commitment to the sport, we are thrilled to further our partnership with Volleyball World in support of premier international competition, while also showcasing numerous Big Ten alumni on the U.S. Women’s National Team.”