Wednesday Relay Results | | Meet Central
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Purdue men's swimming and diving established new program records in both relay events contested Wednesday during the opening night of action at the Big Ten Championships.
The Boilermakers broke varsity records in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. Guillermo Blanco was part of both relay teams, swimming the butterfly leg on the medley squad and the leadoff leg on the freestyle quartet. His leadoff split of 1:36.38 ranks third as the third fastest 200 free time program history.
Stephen Seliskar, Lyam Dias and Austin Flager teamed with Blanco on the 200 medley relay team. The program records in both the 200 and 400 medley relays had stood since the 2009 Big Ten Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Jan Karel Petric, Josh Ehrman and Josh Brooks followed Blanco into the water on the 800 free relay team. Petric and Brooks both posted splits of 1:36.69. The previous team record in the 800 free relay had stood since the 2011 Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis.
Flager was part of the Boilers' record-setting 400 free relay team last season as freshman. But the other six swimmers to compete Wednesday for Purdue were all part of their first relay records. Individually, Blanco holds the school record in the 400 IM and Dias is first all-time in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
The Boilermakers finished seventh in both events and are in eighth place after the opening night. But only 10 points separates third place (Indiana and Wisconsin) and eighth place. Michigan swept both relays to jump out to an early lead in its quest to win a fifth straight Big Ten title.
Action continues Thursday with prelims at noon ET. The 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 1-meter diving and 400 medley relay are the on the schedule for Thursday.
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Team Scoring
1. #5 Michigan, 80
2. #8 Ohio State, 64
T-3. #9 Indiana, 58
T-3. #22 Minnesota, 58
5. #19 Wisconsin, 56
6. Northwestern, 54
7. #21 Iowa, 50
8. Purdue, 48
9. Michigan State, 32
10. #24 Penn State, 22
Purdue's Top Finishers & Notables
* -- New Purdue Season-Best Time
(B) -- NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
200 Medley Relay
Seliskar, Dias, Blanco & Flager, 1:26.57* (B) - Finished 7th (24 Points); NEW PROGRAM RECORD
800 Free Relay Blanco, Petric, Ehrman & Brooks, 6:27.10* - Finished 7th (24 Points); NEW PROGRAM RECORD
Guillermo Blanco's opening-leg split 1:36.38 third fastest in program history