Men’s swimmers power past UVA, Virginia Tech at Wet Wahoo meet

Saturday, February 15

Charlottesville, VA

12:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

UVA Swim Meet

Freshman Xander Williams won the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 45.31 seconds at the Wet Wahoo meet at the University of Virginia. (Photos by Katelyn Foelsch)

Men’s swimmers power past UVA, Virginia Tech at Wet Wahoo meet

2/18/2025 11:52:00 AM | Men's Swimming

Liberty finished second to the host Cavaliers in the combined standings despite being the only team in the field not to enter any women's swimmers.

Men's swimmers Matthew Davidson and Xander Wlliams — Graduate Matthew Davidson (left) and freshman Xander Williams celebrate a fast finish in the UVA Aquatic & Fitness Center.

Competing in its first meet of the spring semester, Liberty University's men's swimming team outpaced host University of Virginia at this past weekend's 10-team Wet Wahoo Invitational at the Aquatic & Fitness Center.

The Flames totaled 857 points to pull away from the Cavaliers (523), Virginia Tech (334.5), the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (248.5), William & Mary (148), JMU (136.5), VCU (90), ODU (54.5), Wake Forest (38), and Appalachian State (18). In the combined men's and women's standings, Liberty finished second only to UVA (1,366), even though the Flames were the only program in the field that did not enter any women's swimmers.

"We had everybody, all 36 guys swim at this meet, which was an exciting opportunity," Liberty Head Coach Heath Grishaw said, noting that nearly half of the team had missed practices in recent weeks due to illness. "It was a good meet for us to knock the rust off from Winter Break and have the ability to race. We were happy with our showing, and excited to see where we were at. Overall, everybody's in a really good spot."

The Flames' 200 medley relay team of graduate Matthew Davidson (backstroke), freshman Malachi Caballero (breaststroke), senior Jonah Rhodenizer (butterfly), and junior Max Phillipps (freestyle) opened the meet by winning in 1:36.12, exactly one second in front of UVA, nearly two seconds ahead of UNC Chapel Hill and more than three seconds faster than Liberty's B team of freshman Chaz Schuijt, seniors Tyler Suchyj and Trent Kolter, and junior Whittman Brown, which finished fourth in 1:39.25.
Schuijt also won the 100 back in 53.73, ahead of Davidson (third in 55.71) and senior Jimmy Blackstone (fourth in 55.75), and finished second in the 50 back in 24.86.

Davidson won the 100 free in 47:37, edging William & Mary's Matthew Bowman (47.43) and Brown (47.98) before Phillipps won the 50 free in 21.22 with Davidson landing in fourth in 21.75. Brown also placed second in the 500 free in 4:51.41, a split second in front of sophomore teammate Thomas Hill (4:51.54).

Liberty's 200 free relay team of Rhodenizer, Kolter, Phillipps, and Davidson finished first in 1:26.62 followed by its second team of graduate Paul Rasoumoff, Blackstone, freshman Gage Spade, and junior Dillon Delaney (1:28.27).

Delaney also won the 50 breast in 27.44 with Caballero (27.84) finishing fourth.

Freshman Jonah Rees won the 200 individual medley by more than three seconds in 2:01.09 with sophomore Byron Long second in 2:04.25. Freshman Xander Williams won the 200 free in 1:45.31 with Kolter placing third in 1:48.30 and Delaney fourth in 1:48.68.

Rees (52.98) and Kolter (53.24) took second and third, respectively, in the100 fly. Rhodenizer also placed third in the 100 IM in 55.09 and fourth in the 50 fly in 23.76.

Liberty's 30 team members who will be traveling to Mesa, Ariz., for the March 28-30 College Club Swimming (CCS) National Championships had already met the qualifying standards before Saturday's meet. The Flames will race in one more regular-season race, at the March 1 Senior Night meet against William & Mary at the Liberty Natatorium, before nationals.

"We're definitely ramping up in speed in practices, and we're all primed and ready to go," Grishaw said. "We need to be the team that's the readiest. We're not focused on anyone besides ourselves going to nationals. Whoever shows up out there, we'll be ready to swim."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer