In conjunction with the Big South’s year-long initiative, LibertyFlames.com will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX through a series of stories and videos which spotlight each of Liberty’s women’s athletics teams, one per month throughout the 2012-13 academic year. This month, the spotlight will be on the swimming team.
Liberty University went all out on filming their women’s swim meet; they set up a full contingent of cameras, including the side-pool cameras on a sliding track to follow the races up-and-down the pool, just like has been used for NCAA’s and ESPN.
The Liberty swimming team has quickly risen to prominence, placing second at the conference championship meet during just its second year of intercollegiate competition in 2011-12. Head coach Jake Shellenberger, hired on July 29, 2009, has guided the Lady Flames as they achieve further success each season.
The Lady Flames claimed sixth place at the 2011 Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) Championships, capping their first season of intercollegiate competition. Brye Ravettine was named CCSA Co-Swimmer of the Meet after posting a pair of second-place finishes and clocking an NCAA B cut in the 50 free.
As a second-year program in 2012, Liberty earned second place at the CCSA Championships. The team recorded 13 medal-winning performances, five event victories, six NCAA B cuts, 16 program records, three meet and conference records, and numerous lifetime bests. Shellenberger was voted 2012 CCSA Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year for guiding Liberty’s second-year women’s swimming team to a very successful campaign.
Ravettine was named 2012 CCSA Women’s Swimmer of the Meet and CCSA Women’s Swimmer of the Year. She then went on to become Liberty’s first NCAA Division I swimming All-American when she placed 13th in the 50 free at NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming Championship.
Liberty swimming has seen several of its student-athletes compete at the national level, including multiple appearances at USA Swimming national meets. In 2012, current Lady Flames Brye Ravettine and Laura Dayswim in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, while Jess Reinhardt competed in the Australian Olympic Trials in both 2008 and 2012.
During the 2012-13 campaign, the Lady Flames’ first home dual meet, Jan. 11 versus Duquesne, was filmed by the Flames Sports Network to be aired at a later date. It was the first Liberty swimming dual meet, and one of the first in NCAA Division I swimming history, to be aired on television at 12:30 Eastern on Sunday, February 3rd.
How to Watch
You can watch online here on the Liberty Channel: http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=20873
You can also download the Liberty University Today App and watch the meet on your phone.
Way to go Lady Flames!
Nice meet ladies!! This was very exciting to watch and the teams did a great job!