NCAA DI switch brings pace, power to males’s swimming sprints, relays

Former NCAA Division I sprinter Tim Brown has lofty targets and desires as the latest member of Liberty University’s males’s swim group — sparking the Flames to their first College Club Swimming (CCS) National Championship as a group in April 2027 and qualifying to signify Team USA on the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in July 2028.

“My goal is to make the Olympics, and I really think I can do it training under (Head Coach) Heath Grishaw,” stated Brown, 22. “As a sprinter, I want just one more opportunity to prove myself. I haven’t really done that yet, and I am excited to see what I can do.”

Brown began his profession at Thomas (Ga.) University’s NAIA program for the 2023-24 seasons earlier than spending his junior 12 months at Ohio State, the place he recorded most of his private finest instances, and his senior season on the University of Hawaii, each NCAA DI groups. He swam with 5 U.S. Olympians at Ohio State and one at Hawaii, the place he didn’t obtain the extent of coaching he was in search of, main him to switch.

He was impressed by his oldest brother, Mitchell Brown — who swam for one season at Liberty in 2021 earlier than graduating together with his B.S. in Aeronautics and is now coaching in Oklahoma to be a fighter pilot for the U.S. Air National Guard — to finish his undergraduate profession with the Flames.

Grishaw stated Brown has the potential to interrupt all 5 of Matthew Davidson’s particular person program requirements, and to contribute to bettering 5 extra relay group data Davidson was part of setting in his five-year Flames profession that featured 5 particular person gold medals at nationals.

 

“We are really excited for what Tim can bring,” Grishaw stated. “He will be a huge help, a game changer in our sprint freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly events and relays. He is probably the first recruit or transfer post-Matt Davidson era who has a chance to break his records — in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle and 50 and 100 backstroke.”

He stated Brown has the chance to comply with within the wake of Walker Davis, a former NCAA DI swimmer on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Davis led the Tar Heels’ membership swim group to its second-place group exhibiting (one spot increased than Liberty and behind solely a Cal Poly group stacked with 17 of its former NCAA DI swimmers) on the CCS National Championships final 12 months in close by Greensboro, N.C.

“He crushed it and broke a ton of records, finishing first in everything he swam,” Grishaw stated of Davis. “He was influential in helping UNC finish second at nationals. Seeing Tim come our way, he is going to be a great addition for us, and he could have the same type of impact here.”

He stated Brown — who says relays are his favourite occasions in swimming as a result of bonds shaped between teammates — will assist fill the void left by the commencement of group captains Whitman Brown (no relation) and Dillon Delaney.

“He’ll add the missing piece to our relays with Whit and Dillon, who are two really good sprint freestylers, leaving,” Grishaw stated. “He’ll kind of make up the difference and help us, recruiting-wise. He’s coming in as a senior, and he is out of NCAA eligibility. If he decides he wants to train more and swim more, he might consider a master’s degree.”

After finding out sport administration at Ohio State and advertising at Hawaii, Brown plans to finish a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies at Liberty.

“I’m trying to head back onto the business track of sport management,” he stated. “I’ll take school seriously this year because I’m running out of time. In the past my major’s been in swimming, and I’ve loved learning from and hanging out with Olympians, some who have an unbelievable work ethic and some who don’t make it to morning practices.”

Brown, who moved greater than a dozen instances earlier than he graduated from Trinity Christian School in Sharpsburg, Ga., as a consequence of his father being a pilot within the Air Force, presently calls Tallahassee, Fla., dwelling.

“I am used to it, but I’m not a big fan of moving all the time and losing all my friends and having to gain new ones,” he stated. “There is something about living in a small town.”

Brown is trying ahead to assimilating rapidly into the tradition at Liberty and persevering with to guide by instance by exhausting work, as he has at earlier packages. While he has little interest in turning into a group captain, Brown hopes to be a motivator and encourage teammates to spend money on this system.

“I can spot a good heart instantly and can get a lot more out of people who are borderline competitive by chirping, getting them excited to race another day,” he stated. “I find out what makes a person tick, and I get people to practice. I’ll get the attendance at practices to near 100 percent for the people who understand the goal, which is winning a national championship.”

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer