Men’s Swimming Shatters PErsonal REcords At Liberty Collegiate Cup

Liberty club sports men’s swimming Coach Heath Grishaw has emphasized keeping his players mentally strong all year. That toughness was tested April 9-11 when Liberty hosted the Liberty Collegiate Cup – and Grishaw’s athletes shone through, with numerous athletes setting personal records. 

“The big thing we talked about at the beginning of the year with our athletes was something we came up with called ‘Into the Storm,’” Grishaw said when asked about how he approached the new year. “It’s based off of buffalos. (These animals) go through sandstorms when they are approached by one. They don’t go around them like all other animals do.”

Using this example, Grishaw implored his athletes to think and act with the same tenacity and determination when preparing for the upcoming swimming season and all the uncertainty surrounding it.

“I challenged them with that,” Grishaw said. “I said, ‘Hey, guys, we are about to face a gigantic storm. We see it coming, but we don’t know what’s going to be inside that storm. We’re going to get through it though, just like these buffalos do.’” 

The Flames took that mindset and applied it to the Liberty Collegiate Cup — a national championship hosted on Liberty’s campus in partnership with the Collegiate Club Swimming virtual national championships. Liberty hosted 36 events and competed against a reduced number of swimmers from James Madison University and N.C. State.   

The smaller size of the competition allowed for spectators, with each student-athlete receiving two tickets. As fans begin returning to competitions across America, parents and supporters dotted the stands at the Natatorium to continue bringing things to something like normalcy. 

“For team records, we ended up breaking our longest-standing record, which was in the 50-yard freestyle,” Grishaw said, calling it the best meet in the team’s history. “It’s been held since we first started the program in 2017. The previous record was 21.01 (seconds) and Matt Davidson just broke it with a 20.37.”

On an individual level, Liberty’s success continued with junior Robert Boehme coming away with first-place victories in both the 500-meter and 1,000-meter freestyle events.

Davidson, a junior, won all four of the events he entered: the 50-meter backstroke, the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter back and the 100-meter free. On top of that, Davidson swam anchor for the 200-meter freestyle relay, clocking a 19.88, which Grishaw called “absolutely absurd.” 

Though these new records will not be logged due to the COVID-19 reduced field, the Flames are in a fantastic position for the upcoming year, with impressive showings from returning members. Only three athletes will graduate in 2021, giving Liberty a strong foundation for the year ahead. 

“This is a pretty special team and they really rose to the high standard. We are accomplishing very big feats,” Grishaw said.

Sarah Williams is a Sports Reporter. Follow her on Instagram at @state2151.