Saturday Results | Dive-by-Dive Scoring | Complete All-Session Results
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Lyam Dias won the 200 breaststroke in the final race of his career at the Big Ten Championships Saturday, claiming Purdue men's swimming and diving's first conference title in a swimming event since 2009.
Dias won the 200 breast with a time of 1:53.92 that established a new record at the University of Iowa's Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium, which opened during the 2011-12 school year. Marat Amaltdinov finished third in the same race and broke his own Purdue freshman record in the event with a time of 1:54.33.
Olympic gold medalist David Boudia was an eight-time Big Ten diving champion from 2009-11, but the Boilers had not won a conference title in a swimming event since Andrew Langenfeld was victorious in the 50 freestyle in 2009.
Purdue was able to hold on to fourth place in the final team scoring, matching the program's best-ever finish (most recently in 2010). The Boilermakers had five of the Top 10 finishers in platform diving, including four that competed in the championship final of the event. Danny Conway and Guillermo Blanco both qualified for the A final of the 200 fly to give Purdue two more high-scoring finishes in a swimming event Saturday.
Boilers finish 4th at 2015 Big Ten Champs! I love this team and more importantly they love each other! Boiler Up!
-- Dan Ross (@CoachDanRoss) March 1, 2015
Steele Johnson placed second in the championship final of platform diving to complete the week having finished as the runner-up in all three diving events in his first Big Ten Championships. He was the Boilers' top scorer by earning 51 team points. Seniors Jamie Bissett, Nate Cox and Sean Mokhtari also scored in all three diving events, with Bissett qualifying for the championship final of all three.
Here is my 107B from prelims that got five 10s! pic.twitter.com/V0l3UAphAU
-- Steele Johnson (@Steele_Johnson) February 28, 2015
Wisconsin had opened up a 321-255.5 lead on the Boilers for fourth place entering the 200 breast. But Purdue cut the deficit to 352-318.5 after Dias and Amaltdinov as well as Conway and Blanco performed well in their races. Wisconsin did not have a diver qualify for any of the platform scoring finals, allowing the Boilers to surge in front again. Purdue finished with 401.5 points to Wisconsin's 382. Michigan won its fifth straight Big Ten title with 760 points, topping second-place Ohio State by 137 points.
Dias claimed Purdue's sixth Big Ten title in a breaststroke event since 1997. Vilmos Kovacs (3-time champ in 1997-98), Tamas Bessenyei (2001) and Giordan Pogioli (2004) also won Big Ten breaststroke crowns during their careers. Kovacs was selected for induction into the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Dias was named First Team All-Big Ten and Johnson received Second Team All-Big Ten honors Saturday night. Jan Karel Petric was the Boilers' Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.
Dias was sixth in the 200 breast prelims with a time of 1:55.52. He clipped 1.60 seconds off his prelim time while winning the A final of the event. The senior said earlier this week he was feeling stronger about the 100 breast going into the Big Ten Championships. He took fourth in the A final of the 100 breast Friday. The Canadian set program records in both the 100 and 200 breast last season.
The Boilermaker Aquatic Center is up next in the rotation to host the Big Ten Championships and will host the conference meet the final weekend of February next year.
401.5 Team Points for #Purdue to take 4th at Big Tens... Johnson: 51pts Blanco: 44pts Bissett: 39pts Dias: 35pts Cox: 30pts Conway: 23pts
-- Purdue Swim-Dive (@PurdueMSwimDive) March 1, 2015
Team Scoring
1. #5 Michigan, 760
2. #8 Ohio State, 623
3. #9 Indiana, 551
4. Purdue, 401.5
5. #19 Wisconsin, 382
6. #22 Minnesota, 359
7. #24 Penn State, 232
8. #21 Iowa, 230.5
9. Northwestern, 181
10. Michigan State, 82
Purdue's Top Finishers & Notables
* - New Purdue Season-Best Time/Score
^ - New Personal Season-Best Time/Score
(B) - NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
(Z) - NCAA Zone Qualifying Score
200 Breast
Lyam Dias, 1:53.92* (B) - BIG TEN CHAMPION (20 Points); Pool Record Time at Iowa's Natatorium
Marat Amaltdinov, 1:54.33^ (B) - Finished 3rd in A Final (16 Points); New Purdue Freshman Record & Improved on his 2nd Fastest Time in Program History
Platform Diving
Steele Johnson, 510.20* (Z) - Finished 2nd in A Final (17 Points); Improved on His 2nd Best Score in Program History
Nate Cox, 463.35^ (Z) - Finished 3rd in A Final (16 Points); 3rd Best Score in Program History
Jamie Bissett, 401.40^ (Z) - Finished 5th in A Final (14 Points)
Sean Mokhtari, 379.60 (Z, Prelim Score) - Finished 8th in A Final (11 Points)
Alec Back, 394.90^ (Z) - Finished 2nd in B Final (7 Points)
100 Free
Austin Flager, 44.00* (B) - Finished 6th in B Final (3 Points); 7th Fastest in Program History
1650 Free
Jan Karel Petric, 15:22.27* (B) - Finished 18th; Improved on His 9th Fastest Time in Program History
200 Back
Alex Toetz, 1:46.85^ (Prelim Time) - 29th in Prelims as Top Purdue Finisher; 10 Fastest in Program History
200 Fly
Danny Conway, 1:45.09* (B) - Finished 5th in A Final (14 Points); 2nd Fastest in Program History
Guillermo Blanco, 1:45.32^ (B) - Finished 6th in A Final (13 Points); Improved on His 3rd Fastest Time in Program History
400 Free Relay
Flager, Seliskar, Stephens & Ehrman, 2:57.02* - Finished 9th (18 Points); 7th Fastest in Program History
New Purdue Records Established at 2015 Big Ten Championships
200 Breast (Saturday)
Marat Amaltdinov, 1:54.33 (Broke His Own Freshman Record)
100 Back (Thursday)
Stephen Seliskar, 47.42 (On Opening Leg of 400 Medley Relay)
200 IM (Thursday)
Guillermo Blanco,1:43.87
200 Medley Relay (Wednesday)
Seliskar, Dias, Blanco & Flager, 1:26.57
800 Free Relay (Wednesday)
Blanco, Petric, Ehrman & Brooks, 6:27.10