Liberty swimmer set to compete in NCAA Championships

Sophomore swimmer Alicia Finnigan will represent Liberty University’s women’s swimming & diving team at this weekend’s NCAA Division I Championships in Indianapolis, competing in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly. She is the fourth Lady Flame in team history to qualify for swimming & diving nationals.

Finnigan, a native of Sugar Land, Texas, won the 200 fly at the Feb. 15-18 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Championships in Athens, Ga., and solidified her NCAA Division I bid by swimming a lifetime-best time of 1 minute, 56.15 seconds at the University of Georgia’s Bulldog Last Chance Meet on Feb. 26. That also established new Liberty and CCSA records.

On Jan. 10, Finnigan became Liberty’s women’s swimming & diving team’s 20th CCSA Swimmer or Diver of the Week, and first of the year after winning the 200 fly, 400 individual medley, and 500 free and swimming the butterfly leg of the Lady Flames’ winning 400 medley relay in a Jan. 7 meet at eventual CCSA champion Florida Gulf Coast University.

This week’s national championship meet will be hosted by Indiana University from Wednesday through Saturday at the IU Natatorium. Finnigan will swim the 100 fly on Friday and the 200 fly on Saturday.

Live results and live video streaming will be available on the NCAA website. The finals sessions on Friday and Saturday nights will appear live on ESPN3.

Liberty has had two All-America honorable mention swimmers at the NCAA Division I Championships — Brye Ravettine, who placed 13th in the 50 free in 2012, and Jess Reinhardt, who took 10th in 100 fly in 2014.

Last summer, Finnigan participated in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, placing 44th in the 200-meter fly from June 26-July 3 in Omaha, Neb.

For more information on this week’s NCAA Division I Championships, visit Liberty’s Athletics website.