Liberty Swim Team boasts school-high GPA
As the bell in the Freedom Tower strikes 10 p.m., most students pack up their books and trickle out of the library, headed to their dorms after a long day of classes and homework. Spread out in clusters across the library, however, Liberty’s women’s swimming and diving team remain glued to textbooks, cramming in hours of studying into the night after a day of practice in the pool.
Writing news stories and filling out lab reports, the swimmers and divers study in a variety of majors from journalism to nursing, but they are united by their passion for both swimming and academics.
For senior swimmer and journalism student Siani Null, these long nights in the library are more than personal goals. They are a fundamental aspect of the team’s culture.
“I have always been pretty internally motivated to get all my assignments done early and earn good grades, but the culture our team has built makes it easy to prioritize both,” Null said. “I see every single one of my teammates pushing themselves to the limits in training but also studying at the library late every single night, and so we just work hard and remain focused. It’s not the easiest choice to remain this disciplined in both areas, but we do it for each other.”
The Lady Flames recent victory in the CCSA championship, their first since 2014, grabbed headlines in February, but their unique drive to simultaneously perform in the classroom is unrivaled. Scoring an average GPA of 3.79 in the fall semester, the highest of any collegiate swimming and diving program in the nation according to Liberty’s website, the Lady Flames have found a winning formula for balancing academics and athletics.
Though juggling coursework with the many demands of life is already challenging, the rigorous schedule of collegiate athletics often leaves athletes struggling to fit their homework into their day. Aiming for high academic standards, however, Head Coach Jake Shellenberger prioritizes academic performance in recruiting his swimmers and divers, knowing they will need a passion for their studies to succeed while competing
athletically.
“The secret is recruiting the types of student athletes who already excel in these areas (academics) in high school,” Shellenberger said. “Balance and success is natural to them because it is what they’ve always done. … We cannot change people much over the course of four years from who they are at the core level regarding work ethic and motivation, so the key is making sure we fill our team with people who are already highly driven and intrinsically motivated.”
Even with that determination, finishing homework in between meets and practices requires careful planning. Null has to understand her strengths and weaknesses and then plan accordingly.
“Before each semester starts I write down in my planner everything due on all my syllabuses and the dates we’ll be traveling,” Null said. “I know myself and I know that I don’t do much work when we’re traveling because I just want to relax, focus on the meet or spend time with teammates, so before travel meets I stress a lot about finishing everything I can before I go — whether that’s turning projects in early or getting a week ahead in an online class. That just allows me to be in the moment when we’re at a meet.”
Liberty’s swimmers and divers do not have to work through their schedules on their own. Academic Coordinators Ethan Chase and Lauren Amy play a crucial role in the team’s classroom success, providing help with everything from class schedules to challenging courses.
Chase views his personal approach as key to his success as he helps his athletes balance the dual stresses of athletics and coursework.
“In college athletics now, where we have to be the best and everything’s a competition, it can be hard for kids to come out and say, ‘Look, I’m struggling,’” Chase said. “So, getting to know them on a personal level, knowing how their siblings are doing, their family, checking up on them — they know that I care beyond just did they pass their class or not. So, I think that caring about stuff outside of my scope of academics ends up allowing them to feel more comfortable.”
Shellenberger pointed to Chase and Amy’s work as signs of the program’s dedication to every detail of their athletes’ success.
“Lauren and Ethan work tirelessly for our program, and the results speak louder than words,” Shellenberger said.
When Liberty’s swimmers and divers finally leave the library at the end of a long night’s work, they know that another rigorous day lies ahead, but they believe that their work is not just meeting a short-term academic target. In consistently performing with diligence both in and out of the pool, Null believes this current team is building a long-term foundation of
excellence for the program.
“I hope that as a senior I have set the same example that those before me have set,” Null said. “I remember when I was a freshman, I saw two of our seniors win awards at the Flamespys (Liberty’s student athlete awards) for achieving perfect 4.0s their entire collegiate career, and since then, that’s been my goal also. I know that our academic culture has been in the process of being shaped for a long time and is rooted much deeper than just one class.”