Jan. 17, 2014
DALLAS -- Guillermo Blanco's new program record in the 400 individual medley highlighted the opening night of action at the 30th annual Classic @ SMU for Purdue men's swimming and diving.
Nine Boilermakers are in Dallas this weekend competing at the prestigious two-day event. Four of the six teams in the field are ranked in the Top 10 of the latest CSCAA national rankings. No. 1 Michigan had the team lead at the end of the opening night.
Blanco finished third in the A final of the 400 IM with a time of 3:44.32, eclipsing Romain Maire's program record time of 3:47.33 from 2007 by more than three seconds. It was the first program record to change hands since Danny Tucker broke the 100 freestyle benchmark at the 2013 Big Ten Championships.
Blanco also finished fifth in the 100 backstroke to rank as the Boilers' top individual point scorer of the night with 22. There are two heats of six swimmers in each of individual events at the Classic @ SMU. Blanco was the lone Purdue swimmer to compete in a pair of A finals Friday.
"The guys battled well vs. four Top 10 teams. Hats off to Blanco for his new varsity record; that has been a long time coming," Purdue head coach Dan Ross said. "Some guys are not as fresh as they would like but are racing hard anyway. We would like to beat our times from the Minnesota Grand Prix and have been pretty much right on. It will be another big day tomorrow night in Dallas. Please stay tuned"
Danny Conway also moved up the Purdue all-time Top 10 list in the 400 IM, jumping to seventh place with a time of 3:52.08 while finishing third in the B final Friday.
Stephen Seliskar and Austin Flager each posted a pair of personal season-best times. Seliskar's mark of 48.83 in the 100 butterfly doubled as a Purdue season best. He also led off the 400 medley relay with a 100 backstroke split of 49.39 that was his best of the season and ranked second for the Boilers this year.
Flager took third in the B final of the 50 free with a time of 20.31 that was actually faster than three of the times posted in the A final of the event Friday. The freshman improved on his second-fastest time on the team this season. He also raced in the 100 back, finishing with a time of 49.78.
The Classic @ SMU concludes Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Classic @ SMU Opening Night Results
Team Scoring
#1 Michigan, 175
#3 Florida, 154
#6 USC, 149
#8 Louisville, 136.5
Purdue 116.5
SMU, 106
Boilermakers Competing
* -- New Purdue Season-Best Time/Score
^ -- New Personal Season-Best Time/Score
400 IM
Guillermo Blanco, 3:44.32* -- Finished 3rd in A Final (12 Points); NEW PROGRAM RECORD
Danny Conway, 3:52.08^ -- Finished 3rd in B Final (4 Points); 7TH FASTEST IN PROGRAM HISTORY
50 Free
Danny Tucker, 20.32 -- Finished 4th in A Final (11 Points);
Austin Flager, 20.31^ -- Finished 3rd in B Final (3.5 Points)
200 Free
Filip Bujoczek, 1:38.31 -- Finished 5th in A Final (10 Points)
Matt Friede, 1:39.78^ -- Finished 6th in B Final (1 Point)
100 Back
Guillermo Blanco, 49.11 -- Finished 5th in A Final (10 Points)
Austin Flager, 49.78^ -- Finished 5th in B Final (2 Points)
100 Breast
Lyam Dias, 54.55 -- Finished 4th (11 Points)
Danny Conway, 59.50^ -- Finished 6th in B Final (1 Point)
100 Fly
Stephen Seliskar, 48.83* -- Finished 5th in A Final (10 Points)
Filip Bujoczek, 50.06^ -- Finished 5th in B Final (2 Points)
1-Meter Diving
Alec Back, 295.85 -- Finished 4th (11 Points)
800 Free Relay
Bujoczek, Friede, Conway & Blanco, 6:43.28^ -- Finished 5th (14 Points)
400 Medley Relay
Seliskar, Dias, Flager & Tucker, 3:15.85^ -- Finished 5th (14 Points)
Seliskar opening 100 backstroke split of 49.39^ is a personal season-best