Millikin Athletics

Grace Van Ryckeghem joined the Millikin University Swimming and Triathlon coaching staff in August 2019. Van Ryckeghem comes to Millikin from Brentwood, Tennessee where she was coaching elite athletes at XCEL Aquatics. 

Grace attended the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky where she was a member of the Patriot’s swim team. As a collegiate athlete, Van Ryckeghem was a five time All-American, two time Scholar All-American, and two time Academic All-Conference. Van Ryckeghem was the Mid-South Conference Champion in the 1650 Freestyle and a member of the winning 800 Freestyle relay in both 2015 and 2016. In addition, Van Ryckeghem claimed top three finishes in the Mid-South Conference multiple years in the 200 IM, 1650 Freestyle, 500 Freestyle and both the 100 and 200 Butterfly. Grace went on to take second in the nation in the 1650 Freestyle in 2015. In 2015-16, Van Ryckeghem was named the Mid-South Conference Athlete of the Year. Grace comes to Millikin with triathlon experience as well as her experience as an acclaimed swimmer; she competed in the USA Triathlon Youth National Championships in 2006. 

In the 2019-20 season alongside head coach Dr. Molly Duesterhaus, Triathlon placed third in the USA Triathlon NCAA Women's Collegiate Championships and Swimming achieved new successes, qualifying swimmers for 17 A Finals events at the CCIW Conference Championships, nearly tripling the number of qualifiers than in past seasons. This year, Millikin also had its first event champion since 2000 with Felix Archer breaking the school records and winning the 100 and 200 backstroke. The 2019-20 season also saw the Women's team break 300 team points at the CCIW Conference Championships for the first time since 2007 and the Men's team break 300 team points for the first time since 2006. Over the course of the 2019-20 season, Millikin swimmers recorded 65 new top ten times, with 38 of those times, including five new school records, coming at the CCIW Conference Championship meet. 

Grace Van Ryckeghem graduated from University of the Cumberlands in 2016 with a Bachelor's Degree in Excercise Sports Science.