Men’s swimmers sharpen one another in Last Chance Meet at the Natatorium

Saturday, March 7

Lynchburg, VA

TBD

Liberty University Club Sports

Liberty Invitational

The Flames' senior class went out winners at Saturday's Last Chance Meet at the Liberty Natatorium.

Men’s swimmers sharpen one another in Last Chance Meet at the Natatorium

3/8/2026 6:36:00 PM | Men's Swimming

The Flames prepared for the April 10-12 College Club Swimming National Championships in Greensboro, N.C., and saluted their eight seniors on Saturday.

Liberty University's men's swimming team sent out its eight seniors with a dominating performance in Saturday's Last Chance Meet at the Liberty Natatorium. With only a couple other individual competitors in the pool, the Flames swam against the clock and themselves in one of the fastest pools on the East Coast. The seniors and underclassmen earned a few new qualifying cuts for the April 10-12 College Club Swimming National Championships at the Greensboro (N.C.) Aquatics Center, where they will look to contend for their first national title after three consecutive runner-up showings.

"We wanted to make sure that these guys had the opportunity to swim one more time in a meet-like atmosphere, with touch-pads in the water, times showing up on the board, and fans being on hand, all super important (factors)," Liberty Head Coach Heath Grishaw said. "This was their last chance to have something like that before nationals, and we saw a lot of great swims today."

"It was super fun," added senior captain Whittman Brown, who won the 100-yard freestyle in 47.82 seconds. "It's crazy how fast time's flown, but it's been the best team I've ever been a part of, and I've really loved every second of it. It's been awesome, and I loved to be able to swim here with everybody to get one last meet in before nationals. We're three-time runners-up, and we are always chasing (a first team championship). I'm super-excited to be able to race with them in April."

The senior class of Brown and fellow captains Dillon Delaney and Jeffery Serle as well as Ben Bizeau, Aaron Hall, Carter Rice, Aaron Sandoval, and Alex Sandoval will leave a lasting legacy as they helped raise the standard of excellence in the program over their four years on Liberty Mountain. They turned in farewell performances that helped build momentum for their final national meets and served as launching points for their careers beyond Liberty.

"It was an awesome opportunity to watch our seniors get their last opportunity to swim here at The Natatorium," Grishaw said. "That was special, that's important for them. Alex Sandoval had his last swim ever here (winning the 1,000 free in 11 minutes, 2.18 seconds). He'll be with us in Greensboro, and he'll be helping us but not swimming, so it was special to watch his last swim for us. Ben Bizeau swimming 1:56.20 in the 200 butterfly was stellar and turned heads. (Junior) Byron Long going 1:43.37 in the 200 free was huge for us. We're getting a lot of information for relay spots, and we're really happy with it. I think we're heading in the right direction. I think we'll be primed and ready to go in Greensboro, and we're excited to see what happens."

Other winners for the Flames included sophomore Chaz Schujt in the 50 backstroke (24.78); freshman Judah Fralic in the 100 breaststroke (59.95); freshman Charlie Houston in the 200 individual medley (1:59.11), 50 free (22.15), and 100 back (57.81); Long in the 200 back (1:56.38) and 500 free (4:44.86); junior Thomas Hill in the 400 IM (4:11.61); sophomore Malachi Caballero in the 50 breast (26.22) and 100 IM (52.96); junior Aiden Walter in the 100 fly (52.88); and Rice in the 200 breast (2:18.10). Additionally, Delaney (23.70) placed second to Nicholas Roberts (23.21) of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in the 50 fly; Brown, Rice, Bizeau, and sophomore Aaron Hall swam on the winning 200 medley relay (1:41.93); and Long, Walter, and juniors Timothy Grabinski and Kierro Stibbs formed the winning 200 free relay (1:29.84).

"Nathan Getter ended up getting his national qualifying time by 0.01 seconds in the 100 breast, which was a big swim for him," Grishaw said. "It was pretty special to watch him do that. We're really happy about that, we're proud of him. He's a freshman who worked hard for it and had a great attitude, so huge shout out to Nathan for getting on that bus (to nationals). He did it at the 11th hour.
That's what matters, we talk about it all of the time, that one-one-hundredth of a second means a lot. That can be the difference between winning and losing a meet."

Brown expects to compete on all four of the Flames' relay teams at nationals and to anchor all but the 200 medley.

"It's always fun when the guys are able to race in front of me," he said. "It always hypes me up when I go last. I just leave it all in the water and swim as hard as I can."

Brown and Delaney are looking forward to going to Charleston, S.C., as a team over spring break on a training trip.

"Last year we went to the Virginia Beach area near my hometown of Williamsburg," Delaney said. "This will be a first for me at least. It's going to be hard to have fun while keeping the training up, but we'll have plenty of time to do team bonding while … keeping our eyes set toward nationals."

The first-year captain, who will compete in the 50 and 100 breast, 100 IM, and 100 free and on the 400 IM relay at nationals, has developed leadership ability as he has been stretched this season.
"My freshman year I had the most growth spiritually and in general and it's been increasing every year," Delaney said. "We'll have three full days at nationals swimming in everything, and we've just got to trust in our training."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer