Men’s swimmers recommit to training after being surpassed by Lynchburg in spring-opening rematch

Friday, January 30

Lynchburg, VA

Liberty University Club Sports

108

154

University of Lynchburg

Flames swimmers competed for the first time in 75 days on Friday at the Liberty Natatorium. (Photos by Mason Shipman)

Men’s swimmers recommit to training after being surpassed by Lynchburg in spring-opening rematch

2/2/2026 1:07:00 PM | Men's Swimming

The Flames had the tables turned on them by the Hornets, while coasting past Southern Virginia in a double dual meet at the Liberty Natatorium.

Showing signs of rust after Winter Break — and a 75-day stretch since defending its Eastern Regional Championship for the fifth time — Liberty University's men's swim team split two dual meets against the University of Lynchburg and Southern Virginia University on Friday night at the Liberty Natatorium.

Four months and three days after defeating Lynchburg by a 158-104 count in a season-opening meet in the same pool, the Flames were stung back by the Hornets, who are preparing for their fast-approaching Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships, by nearly the same margin, 154-108. The meet was bumped up from Saturday afternoon to Friday night due to the prospects of additional snowfall in Lynchburg on Saturday.

"On the NCAA timeline right now, (the Hornets) are two weeks out from their conference meet, whereas we're 11 weeks out from our (College Club Swimming) Nationals," Flames Head Coach Heath Grishaw said. "We're in a different spot. A lot of NCAA teams take training trips during the winter, and we're taking ours during Spring Break. The University of Lynchburg is coming off a training trip, so it's at a different level of training than we are."

After losing four swimmers from the travel roster from the fall to the spring semester, including senior captain Nathaniel Dyer, who graduated in December, Liberty was also swimming without sophomore JC Gordon, one of its top swimmers who is recovering from injury.
"That was one thing going against us that also hurts," Grishaw said of Gordon, a transfer from NCAA Division I Virginia Tech. "He is one of our big point-scorers."

The Flames only had three individual event winners in their head-to-head swim against the Hornets — senior captain Whittman Brown in the 200 freestyle (1 minute, 46.69 seconds), sophomore Caleb Reno, a transfer from NCAA Division I Cincinnati, in the 100 butterfly (52.71), and freshman Judah Fralic in the 500 free (by 10 seconds in 4:53.20), who also finished second in the 200 free in 1:47:46.

Brown anchored the Flames in the meet-opening 200 medley relay — led off by sophomore Jonah Rees, senior captain Dillon Delaney, and Reno — that finished second to Lynchburg (1:36.74-1:37.21). Brown then swam the opening leg of the meet-ending 200 free relay —followed by Delaney, Rees, and Reno — that also was edged by the Hornets (1:26.78-1:27.43).

In the dual meet against SVU, Liberty dominated, scoring an even 200 points to win by 150 over the Knights (50).

As much of a moral victory as that may have been, Grishaw said the Flames experienced a major breakthrough from their leadership.

"Last night, we had a really big win last night in terms of culture," he said. "After the loss, maybe we could have had better swims, but there was a moment where we saw a potential championship-winning culture developing, with a lot of guys speaking up. It wasn't coach-led; it was team-lead, and that was really powerful and inspiring watching the team take accountability for their efforts in and out of the pool."

The Flames have three weeks to prepare for their next meet at CCS rival University of Virginia on Feb. 20-21, when Gordon is expected to return.

"We're going to have some good training between now and then, and before our Last-Chance Meet on March 7, which will be our Senior Night," Grishaw said of the team's final event of the season at the Liberty Natatorium.

Of Liberty's 27 swimmers, 24 have already received qualifying times for the April 10-12 CCS National Championships hosted for the first time by North Carolina State at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

"We had a ton of guys qualify at our regional championships, but none (Friday night)," Grishaw said, noting nationals was supposed to be held in Greensboro in 2020 before it was canceled by COVID-19. "Having nationals this close is really exciting for us right now as these guys take control and lead this culture. That's a really dangerous pool for us because a ton of people on our team who are from the East Coast have swam at the GAC."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer