Flames swimmers leave Eastern Region competitors in their wakes at Liberty Natatorium

Saturday, November 15

Lynchburg, VA

10:15 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Eastern Regionals

Photo by: Ryan Anderson

Liberty Men’s Swimming hosts the Eastern Regional Meet in the Liberty Natatorium on November 15th, 2025. (Photo by Grace Greer)

Photo by: Ryan Anderson

Flames swimmers leave Eastern Region competitors in their wakes at Liberty Natatorium

11/16/2025 11:39:00 PM | Men's Swimming

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Liberty won nine of 10 events in Saturday’s finals before clinching its sixth regional title in a row convincingly on Sunday.

A sixth consecutive Eastern Regional Championship wasn't unexpected for Liberty University's men's swim team, but the margin of victory over the University of Virginia and the other 16 College Club Swimming (CCS) programs in the field for the two-day meet held at the Liberty Natatorium was much greater than anticipated.

The Flames swam away with the title, racking up 1,455.5 points, more than the next three programs combined — UVA (706.5), Penn State (391.5), and George Mason (305.5). They were followed by Northeastern (290.5), Maryland (286), William & Mary (266.5), James Madison University (205), the University of Massachusetts (116), and Drexel (74), rounding out the top 10.

More than 500 swimmers entered the meet, including close to 100 from UVA, with about half of all swimmers being female. Despite not entering any women's swimmers, the Flames placed second to the Cavaliers (2,162) in the combined team standings. Fast times were posted by all, with new meet records set in 13 of the 21 men's events.

"It was a huge advantage having it here," senior team captain Dillon Delaney said of the Flames swimming in their home pool. "We had a lot of people qualify for nationals. The taper that we had (before the meet) definitely showed."

"This was an amazing meet," added Caleb Reno, a sophomore NCAA Division I transfer from the University of Cincinnati who established new program and meet records in winning the 50 butterfly in 22.0 seconds and the 100 fly in 49.82. "It was a lot of fun. Last night, we got first in every event other than the 50 freestyle (placing third, 0.13 seconds out of first). We dominated. We went four-for-four (in relays), so I was pretty excited about that. We really had to put it together and trust what our coaches have been doing."

Flames Head Coach Heath Grishaw said the team's relentless work in practice since the preseason paid off on the biggest stage of the fall semester, with several swimmers earning time cuts for the CCS National Championships in Greensboro, N.C., from April 10-12.

"Watching the guys really buy in and trust what we were doing every day, every week we just ended up seeing so many things point to the obvious that we saw tonight that … we are still the team that dominates in this region," Grishaw said. "The guys really showed up today. Saturday night alone, we broke five meet records. We broke all four relay records this weekend. We broke three individual team records. We really threw down and in some pretty amazing ways."

Sophomore Malachi Caballero swam two of the fastest times in the nation this season in winning both the 100 (55.54, edging Delaney (55.78)) and 200 breaststroke (2:02.76) events, setting the new program standard in the 200.

JC Gordon, a sophomore transfer from NCAA Division I Virginia Tech, posted the fastest 1,000 freestyle time in the nation this year, 9:36.30, leading a 1-4 Liberty sweep followed by junior Thomas Hill (9:50.44), freshman Judah Fralic (9:54.41), and junior Carter Rice (10:04.90). He also struck gold in the 200 back in 1:51.90; the 500 free in 4:35.15, followed by Hill (4:40.93) and Fralic (4:42.39); and the 200 free in 1:41.35, followed closely by senior Whittman Brown (1:41.86), with Fralic finishing third in 1:45.06.

Delaney and Reno swam on all four of the Flames' winning relays, with Brown anchoring the meet-opening 200 medley that won in 1:30.85 and the 400 freestyle relay that finished first by more than five seconds in 3:24.23. Brown also won the 100 free in 45.88 and swam the opening leg of the 200 free relay that won in 1:23.48, followed by Delaney, Gordon, and Reno.

Sophomore Jonah Rees, who led off the 400 medley relay, also won the 200 IM in 1:53.96 and the 100 back in 51.06. Delaney finished first in both the 50 breast in 25.61 and the 100 IM in 51.50, nipping Caballero (51.96) and Rees (52.16).

Freshman Charlie Houston paced a 1-5 Flames sweep in the 200 fly in 1:53.95.

While Gordon won twice as many individual events (four), Grishaw said Reno's record times in the butterfly were just as impressive.

"We've had a ton of great flyers," Grishaw said. "(Reno is) an exceptional butterflyer, and he's going to really put Liberty's relays and 100 fly events on the map just because of what he can do."

"I've been going faster than at Cincinnati, so it's been great," Reno added. "Being able to trust Heath in (his training) has been awesome. We just keep the energy and just trust our coaching like we did before, just having a positive attitude and a good team culture."

The weekend performance puts the Flames, who have finished second in the past three national championships, in position to again contend for their first team title.

"It'll be great to see what we can do this year, but right now we need to rest and recover," Grishaw said. "We need to look at the things we didn't do well and look at the things we did really well, not forget to stick to what we know, and improve the little details and tune up and get to April. I'm super excited for what's to come, but the big thing and my big challenge to the guys is that just because we did it here at Eastern Regionals doesn't make us national champions."

He said the Eastern Region, which only includes schools from Virginia up through New England, is arguably the weakest of the four in the nation, with others featuring up to 800 swimmers at their regional meets.

"There's other dogs out there, and they're going to be ready to fight, just like we will when it comes time," Grishaw said. "You've got to watch out for the Southern Region, the Western Region, and the Central Region. There's a lot of really good teams."

That includes Purdue, the four-time defending CCS national champion from the Central Region, along with Georgia Tech and Georgia from the Southern Region, and Cal Poly from the Western Region.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer