Liberty junior Byron Long and sophomore Jonah Rees tied for 13th in the 200-yard backstroke on Sunday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. (Photos by Mason Shipman)
Men’s swimmers clinch third place out of 144 teams at CCS National Championships
4/12/2026 10:41:00 PM | Men's Swimming
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The Flames followed three consecutive runner-up showings with an equally strong finish behind only two programs powered by NCAA Division I athletes.
Liberty University's men's swimming team wrapped up third place in this weekend's College Club Swimming National Championships at the Greensboro (N.C.) Aquatic Club with another solid performance in Sunday's finals.
The Flames, who had placed second to Purdue University in the past three national championship meets, landed in third behind only Cal Poly and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, teams that benefited greatly from the additions of NCAA Division I swimmers to their rosters.
"Cal Poly's NCAA DI team got cut, so 17 of their guys are in the transfer portal for next year but are swimming at the club level this season," Liberty Head Coach Heath Grishaw said. "They set a bunch of meet records and won a bunch of events and won (CCS) nationals. UNC has four swimmers that swam for their NCAA team last year that we knew would do really well, especially in their relays. Everyone else in the College Club Swimming Nationals world, these are true club swimmers."
The Flames had three finalists in the 100-yard Individual Medley with senior captain Dillon Delaney placing sixth in 51.37 seconds. Sophomores Malachi Caballero (15th in 53.0) and Jonah Rees (17th in 52.11) also scored 19 points to bring Liberty's total in that event to 40.
After finishing eighth in Saturday's 400 freestyle relay in 3:05.52, earning 38 team points, the Flames settled for 16th and 20 team points by posting a time of 1:24.82 in the 200 free relay, also anchored by senior Whittman Brown.
Junior Byron Long and Rees tied for 13th in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall in identical times of 1:52.99 to combine for 25 team points, before finishing eighth and 13th, respectively, in the 200 IM in 1:54.43 and 1:55.24 for a combined 32 team points.
Delaney recorded 16 points by placing 10th in the 50 breaststroke in 25.90 before the Flames' trio of junior Thomas Hill (sixth in 4:38.12), freshman Judah Fralic (eighth in 4:38.53), and senior Benjamin Bizou (21st in 4:49.49) racked up 46 team points in the last event of the meet.
"I thought coming in, it was going to be a dogfight for second through fifth place," Grishaw said of the team standings. "This year, we didn't have the depth that we did last year. We have taken a bit of a hit, and don't have some of the guys we had in the fall, so we lost some points, but we still did well. We just wanted to go out and swim fast and do what we've been training to do."
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterFlames Head Coach Heath Grishaw is as proud of this year's team as any of its previous national runner-up finishers.
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