Feb. 18, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 22nd-ranked Purdue women's swimming and diving team broke four school records while earning multiple scoring spots in three events Thursday evening to cap day two of the Big Ten Championships inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
"This was a good day," head coach John Klinge said. "I think tonight was especially good. We've had quite a few improvements. The girls just swam hard like they've been doing all year."
The Boilermakers began the session with yet another record-breaking swim. One day after the program record in the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay fell, the 200 freestyle relay record went too. Ariel Martin, Lisa Butler, Katie Beck and Lauren Nichols touched the wall in 1:31.01 to better the quartet's NCAA provisional-qualifying time and break the previous record of 1:31.09 set in 2005.
Freshman Caitlin Hamilton continued the record breaking in the first final of her collegiate career. The Normal, Ill., native tied for fifth in the 500 freestyle with her time of 4:43.16, breaking the record of 4:44.27 she set during the preliminary swim Thursday morning. Hamilton now holds program and freshman records in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle events and the freshman mark in the 1,650 freestyle, which will be contested Saturday.
"I really never thought I was going to go that fast," Hamilton said. "I told John this morning that I was scared I would never break 4:47 again, so when I went 4:44 this morning, I teared up I was so excited. To go 4:43 tonight is just awesome. I couldn't be happier with that time and how the swim went. It was great."
Junior Allie Smith broke the school record in the 200 IM for the third time in her career. The Green Bay, Wis., native finished third in the race with her time of 1:58.96 to break the previous record of 1:59.25 she set during the preliminary session. Smith, who held the record coming into the meet with her 1:59.94 time at last year's Big Ten Championships, also improved her standing among NCAA provisional qualifiers in the event.
"It was awesome breaking the record," Smith said. "My expectations weren't that high for that event. I was more focused on the backstroke, so to pull that out was awesome. It felt so good to get third and get a medal and stand up on that podium. It was the best feeling ever."
Martin kept the record-breaking streak going and provided the highlight of the evening as she finished second in the 50 freestyle. The junior from Jeffersonville, Ind., finished the race in 22.50 to better her school-record mark of 22.57 put up in the preliminary round and lower the program-best time in that event for the fourth time in her career. Martin has played a part in six record-breaking performances already in the first two days of the Big Ten Championships.
"(Breaking six records in two days) is really cool," Martin said. "It's something I never would have thought I would be able to do when I came to Purdue. I've dropped so much time and improved so much. It's amazing to see how much my hard work has paid off. It's fun."
Butler tied for 10th in the race when she touched the wall in 23.02. The junior from Holland, Mich., finished just one-hundredths of a second away from her preliminary time of 23.01 that moved her to fifth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event.
Sophomore Lauren Roth, who held Purdue's record in the 500 freestyle briefly during the preliminary swim before Hamilton claimed it, improved her standing in second on the program's all-time performance list in the event when she won the `B' final and finished ninth overall with her time of 4:44.46. Classmate Amy Gutwein lowered her season-best clocking in the event for the second time Thursday when she improved her standing on the NCAA provisional qualifiers list and finished 24th in the final by touching the wall in 4:52.01.
Freshman Seraphina Van, making her first Big Ten final appearance, recorded a season-best clocking of 2:04.00 that improved her standing among NCAA provisional qualifiers while finishing 24th. Her time bettered the 2:04.26 time she posted during the preliminary session and is more than one second faster than her season-best time entering the meet.
Sophomore Casey Matthews finished fourth in the 1-meter springboard after putting together a season-best score of 313.05. Junior Erin Mertz scored 305.90 during her six-dive list to place sixth in the final. The Omaha, Neb., native posted a season-best score of 309.90 during the preliminary competition and moved to fifth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event.
The Boilermakers have broken a school record in each event that has taken place in the pool, including preliminary swims. All total, Purdue has broken 11 program records through the first seven events of the meet. The team also has earned 36 season-best marks through the first three sessions of the championships.
Purdue currently is fourth in the team race with 182 points. Minnesota is first with 204.5 and is followed by Michigan's score of 195.5. Indiana is third with 191 points, and Wisconsin rounds out the top five with 150.5.
Action continues Friday with a preliminary session set for 11 a.m. ET to be followed by finals at 6:30 p.m. A complete schedule of events, as well as live results and live video from the championships, can be found at purduesports.com.