Keenan Lineback Signs With the University of San Diego!
By Amanda Kelley
Sports Reporter
Keenan Lineback might as well be going home when she heads to college next year. The Christian Academy senior signed a National Letter of Intent to swim for the University of San Diego .
“She’s got California girl written all over her,” said Brittany Todd, head coach of the Myrtle Beach Riptides.
The swimmer, surfer, model and straight-A student received a partial athletic scholarship that will cover 80 percent of her tuition at the Division I Catholic institution.
“I’ve always wanted to be able to go to college in California or Florida ,” Lineback said. “ California was my top choice because I’m also a surfer and that’s been a big part of my life on top of swimming.”
While swimming has been her main gig for the last year, and will remain a top priority, the one thing the 18-year old wants people to know is that she is still surfing.
“I’m not giving up on surfing,” she said. “A lot of people keep saying, ‘Oh you quit surfing,’ but no, it just had to take a back seat for a while … I think I’m going to be able to shine in surfing more than ever because I’ll be in California and because I’ll be in the industry.”
Lineback has been in the industry, but now she’ll be where the waves are too.
“There’s always a wave because the Pacific gets so many more swells than here,” Lineback said. “The water will be a little cooler but … it shouldn’t be too bad.”
She represents Billabong as a member of the amateur surf team. She was a member of the USA surf team in 2008 and 2009 and won three-straight titles at the ESA Eastern surf championship from 2008 to 2010.
And University of San Diego has a surf team, so when she’s not training in the pool, she can compete in the ocean. She plans to do both and even hopes to find a career in the surfing industry.
In the pool, Lineback can be used in any event, but will most likely swim the distance freestyles, 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard butterfly.
No matter how she’s used, one thing Coach Todd knows is the Torero’s are lucky to have a fierce competitor.
“Keenan is super competitive and really outgoing,” Todd said. “She has a drive and a passion for the sport that you don’t see in everybody. She always comes to practice ready to work as hard as possible. Even if she feels horrible she gives it all she’s got and if I were a college coach that’s exactly what I would look for.”
Todd just started coaching Lineback at the end of the summer when she took over as head coach of the Myrtle Beach Riptides. She said the competitive drive and passion for the sport was the first thing she noticed in the swimmer.
“It’s really obvious every time she walks on the pool deck,” Todd said. “She never complains and she always has a good time. She’s happy.”
She’s the first of the elite girl’s to advance to the next level. The Riptides have sent two boys, including Lineback’s older brother Hunter, to swim at the collegiate level.
“She’s amazing,” Todd said. “She’s a great friend and an awesome role model for the younger kids she comes into contact with. She’s a really special kid and we’ll definitely miss her.
“She sets the standards high every day when she comes to practice and now getting a scholarship to college it gives those younger kids something to strive for. Everybody should try to be like her.”
Lineback said she is currently planning to major in business and marketing.
“I think it would be awesome to stay in the surfing industry and be a team manager for a company,” she said. “I’ve always loved my Billabong team manager’s job because she gets to travel with the team and do all the events and manages the team. It seems like it would be a really fun job.”
Lineback took her first trip to the campus last summer during a trip to Irvine , Ca. for the Junior National Swimming Championships.
“USD absolutely blew me away,” she said. “It had everything I wanted. I loved all the people, they have an outdoor pool and it’s really prestigious academically. They have small classes which I really wanted to see because I’m coming from a small Christian school.”
Her goal in the first year is to make an impact on the team, to score as many points in the conference championship and hopefully qualify for the NCAA championships.
When she packs her bags and goes across the country, she’ll leave Conway where she’s spent her entire life. She’ll leave her parents, her school friends, and her swim family – in short, everything and everyone she’s grown up with.
But in going to California , she’s really returning to her roots. The life she leads screams “West Coast.” So while she’s swimming away at USD, she’s really only just ridden the last wave home.
