Liberty University Club Sports
University of Lynchburg
Flames maintain competitive edge in friendly rivalry with cross-town Hornets
9/27/2025 5:52:00 PM | Men's Swimming
With an abundance of new swimmers in the fold, Liberty’s three-time reigning College Club Swimming runners-up tested the waters against NCAA Division III Lynchburg.
Team unity and camaraderie are as high as ever for Liberty University's men's swim team, which is undergoing a bit of a youth movement while maintaining a growth mindset.
The Flames' esprit de corps and youthful enthusiasm and energy was on display at the fifth annual season-opening meet against cross-town University of Lynchburg, Friday night at the Liberty Natatorium. Despite being outnumbered by the NCAA Division III Hornets, Liberty won the exhibition by a 158-104 margin.
It was a good meet, Flames Head Coach Heath Grishaw said. We actually swam even better than last year's team did in this meet in terms of times, and certain guys were in a better spot. You can see the guys that are really putting in work, and those guys have seen the rewards of it.
Liberty showcased its strength in the distance freestyle events, sweeping the top three positions in the 500-yard free paced by junior Thomas Hill (4:49.76) and followed closely by freshman Judah Fralic (4:55.47) and junior Carter Rice (4:55.78).
In the 200 butterfly, Flames freshman Tristan Massey won by nearly three seconds ahead of Lynchburg's Connor Marshall in 1:58.58 with Flames freshman Charlie Houston, Hill, and junior Aiden Walter finishing 3-4-5.
Malachi Caballero led a 1-2-4 finish in the 100 breaststroke in 58.95 and fellow sophomore Jonah Rees paced a 2-3-4 Flames finish in the 100 backstroke in 54.02 before freshman Byron Long won the 200 back in 1:59.53. Caballero also won the 200 breast by nearly two seconds in 2:13.58 and the 100 individual medley in 54.72, more than a second in front of senior captain Dillon Delaney (55.79).
Long sparked a 1-2-3-4 Liberty sweep in the 200 IM in 2:00.21, followed by Rees, Fralic, and Hill.
Senior captain Whittman Brown won the 100 freestyle in 47.86, a split second in front of the Hornets' Henry Brooks, before freshman Jerry Gordon paced a 1-2-4 Liberty finish in the 200 free in 1:47.50, a split second in front of Brown (1:47.64). Freshman Caleb Reno placed second in the 50 freestyle in 22.20 as well as the 100 butterfly in 54.34.
(Assistant Coach) Jordan Stackpole and I are really pleased with talent we have across the board, Grishaw said. Malachi Caballero is having a breakout sophomore year, so we are really excited about that. Thomas Hill and Byron Long had great showings, and we saw great leadership from Whitt (Brown) and (senior captain) Nate (Dyer) as well as Dillon Delaney and freshmen Judah Fralic and Tristan Massey.
As it had in the meet-opening 200 medley relay, with the quartet of Rees, Delaney, Reno, and Brown landing in second in 1:36.84, Liberty placed second in the meet-ending 200 free relay with Delaney, Reno, Gordon, and Brown finishing in 1:28.04, more than a second behind Lynchburg's fastest relay (1:26.71).
We did lose both of our relays, but in terms of times, we were right where we were last year, so we weren't discouraged that we lost those, Grishaw said.
He's been especially pleased with the approach the swimmers have taken to their preseason practices, which were especially challenging using a long-course setup.
The guys have had great attitudes in practice, not complaining about their sets, and they are really attacking it well, Grishaw said. I've seen great growth in our culture this year, with the amount of guys who are encouraging each other, getting each other fired up for their races. Typically, in our history, it takes some time for our guys to get used to each other and it's not until our first travel trip when everybody's hanging out and the walls come down a little bit that we see the guys smiling, having fun, congratulating each other, and encouraging each other. We're seeing that now, and already really looking like a team.
He hopes to see those relationships between teammates continue to grow and the work ethics and spiritual disciplines strengthened as the Flames travel to George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., for an invitational meet against as many as 10 other Eastern Regional programs including the host Patriots next Saturday.
The guys have some things they need to fix and work on and see if we can improve before we hit the road for George Mason, Grishaw said. Our goal is to execute some things that we did wrong.
Overall, he said the Flames did a lot of things right and are headed in the right direction.
We looked really strong, Grishaw said. We are a club program, but we don't perform under that club title. We operate as a varsity men's swim team comparable to a mid-major program. We do swim good times and have a handful of guys who could have gone mid-major or NCAA DI, II or III, for sure.
Friday's meet was held in conjunction with an exhibition between Liberty's NCAA DI and Lynchburg's NCAA DIII women's swim teams before the Lady Flames officially open their season next Friday and Saturday against East Carolina back in the Liberty Natatorium.
(Lady Flames Head Coach) Jake Shellenberger is a huge advocate for what we do and I give him a lot of credit for testifying to other coaches about the legitimacy of our program, Grishaw said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Players Mentioned
