GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Gettysburg swimming head coach
Mike Rawleigh knew he was getting a special athlete when he learned
Matt Libby had joined the team after transferring from swimming powerhouse Indian River State College in Florida prior to the 2009-10 season.
What he may not have realized, however, was his young star's flair for the dramatic.
Although Libby racked up a number of individual victories, school records, and national-qualifying times, it was his meet-clinching, come-from-behind performance in the 200-yard freestyle relay at Centennial Conference foe Dickinson College that may have been the most jaw-dropping feat of all.
In the team's next-to-last dual meet of the season, the Bullets found themselves locked in a nip-and-tuck affair and led just 97-91 heading into the 200 free relay – the final event of the night. The Bullets could clinch the meet by winning the relay and the 11 points awarded to the first-place finisher that went with it. But if Dickinson managed to win the race, the Bullets could be in a position to lose the meet unless their two relay teams finished second (four points) and third (two points).
The Red Devils jumped out to a big lead after the first leg, going ahead by 0.79 seconds. By the midpoint of the race, Dickinson's margin had swelled to 1.16 seconds before sophomore
Roger Nawrocki closed the gap by 0.11 seconds, swimming a 22.33-second split.
Still facing over a one-second deficit, Libby turned on the jets and did his best imitation of Jason Lezak in the 400 free relay at the 2008 Olympics. Pumping out an incredible split of 20.91 seconds, he hunted down Dickinson's anchor and in a photo finish, touched 0.01 seconds before his counterpart. His performance gave the Bullets the relay with a time of 1:28.10 and the meet by a score of 108-97.
Dickinson ended up finishing both second and third in the relay, so without Libby's heroics the Red Devils would have captured the meet.
After winning 17 of his 19 individual races in dual-meet competition, Libby was just as impressive at the season-ending Centennial Conference Championships. He concluded the three-day affair with three gold medals (100-free, 100-fly, 200 free relay), two silvers (100 back, 800 free relay), two bronze (400 medley relay, 400 free relay), two school records (100-free, 100-back), two NCAA “B” cuts (100-free, 100-back), and one conference record (100-free), capping a spectacular sophomore season.
