Liberty University Men’s Swimming is pursuing a seventh regional title with national championship aspirations.
In his 10th season at the helm, Head Coach Heath Grishaw leads a team of 26 swimmers, most of whom are brand new Flames.
“We have 11 guys that returned, and we brought in 14 new people: a couple of transfers and a bunch of freshmen,” Grishaw said.
With so many new swimmers, Grishaw said the main challenge is building a culture and community with guys who are having the same life experience that may not come again.
Though they have the goal of winning a national championship, building a team that relies on each other and supports each other is the only way that they believe the goal is achievable.
The team has four captains: seniors Thomas Hill, Byron Long, Carter Rice and junior Thomas Horton.
The captains had the team write standards for themselves on a large notepad in the team room. Each team member signed it, giving them something to work toward.
Two of the returners competing this year are Long, who set the record for the 400-yard individual medley last season, and junior Malachi Caballero.
Caballero wasn’t planning on coming back, but his passion drove him to compete one more year after improving last season.
“He’s here because he wants to do it, not because he has to,” Grishaw said. “I think that is going to be a huge swing in his swimming.”
A new face to the team, senior Timothy Brown, is a transfer from Ohio State who is poised to make an impact on the team at nationals this season. Liberty’s Men’s Swimming team looks to adapt and improvecompetition at the regional and national level.
Grishaw emphasized that although Men’s Swimming is a club sport, they are the face of male swimming at Liberty. The swimmers are volunteers, and that contributes to the success of the team and draws in new talent to the program.
Grishaw credits God for blessing him with the ability to be here, and he uses his platform through swimming to train champions for Christ.
Sizemore is the POV editor for The Liberty Champion.