Results: Saturday / Complete /// Dive-by-Dive Scoring / Purdue Notables
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Marat Amaltdinov and Steele Johnson won Big Ten titles for Purdue men's swimming & diving on the final night of the Big Ten Championships.
Amaltdinov repeated as the conference champion in the 200 breaststroke. Johnson was victorious in platform diving to claim his first career Big Ten title. It marked only the second time the Boilermakers have had a Big Ten champ in both swimming and diving events in the same season. Andrew Langenfeld (50 free) and David Boudia (diving sweep) also teamed up to accomplish the feat in 2009.
Amaltdinov (1:52.89) became the first Purdue swimmer to repeat as a conference champ since Louis Paul won three straight Big Ten titles in the 200 individual medley from 2003 to 2005. The Boilermakers have now won the 200 breaststroke in three straight seasons after Lyam Dias was the Big Ten champ in 2015.
Johnson earned 10s on multiple dives in the championship final, improving on his second-best score in program history with a list total of 547.80. Freshman Brandon Loschiavo won bronze in the same event, giving Purdue two of the top three finishers in platform diving. The Boilermakers racked up 246 of their 721.5 team points this week in the diving events, scoring at least 76 points in each competition. Max Showalter, Johnson and Loschiavo each scored in all three diving events.
.@Steele_Johnson won the Big Ten title in platform diving for @PurdueMSwimDive. He ripped his dives in rounds 4 & 6. https://t.co/gCGRPICXMT
-- Purdue Video 🎥 (@purduevideo) February 26, 2017
The Boilermakers finished in sixth place in the team scoring. Purdue has finished lower than sixth only one time since 2004.
Amaltdinov and Johnson were both named First Team All-Big Ten. Amaltdinov accounted for the ninth Big Ten breaststroke title won by a Boilermaker during head coach Dan Ross's tenure. Vilmos Kovacs (1996-98) also won consecutive Big Ten championships in the 200 breast. Johnson is the third men's diver in program history to win a Big Ten title. Led by Boudia's eight conference championships, Purdue has won 10 diving titles since 2009.
Jake Thomas eclipsed Paul's program record in the 200 backstroke, establishing a new benchmark of 1:43.24 in the prelims while qualifying for the A final. Paul's record had stood since 2005. The Boilermakers set five new records at Big Tens this year, posting a new benchmark on all four days of the meet.
Marat Amaltdinov repeated as the Big Ten Champion in the 200 Breaststroke for @PurdueMSwimDive. #BoilerUp https://t.co/DAdJO0bcZB
-- Purdue Video 🎥 (@purduevideo) February 26, 2017
Loschiavo moved up to fourth place in program history with a list score of 459.35 in the championship final of platform diving. Chris Bals (200 breast, 1:57.83), Filip Bujoczek (100 free, 43.43), Grant Lewis (200 fly, 1:47.31) and Joe Young (200 back, 1:44.75) also posted career-best times Saturday, moving up Purdue's all-time top-10 lists while producing scoring finishes in the evening finals. Bujoczek teamed with Austin Flager, Erik Juliusson and James Boone on the Boilermakers' 400 free relay team, posting the fourth-fastest time (2:55.28) in program history.
Tim Barth and Will Schrensky qualified for the C finals of the 200 back and 200 breast respectively, accounting for team points after making the roster with their performances at the IU First Chance meet the previous weekend. Josh Brooks (200 fly), Alex Close (200 fly) and Adam Noens (200 breast) rounded out Purdue's C finalists Saturday.
The divers will compete again at the NCAA Zone C Championships the weekend of March 9 to 11 in Bloomington, Indiana. That meet will serve as the NCAAs qualifier for the divers. Selected swimmers could chose to race again at an NCAA last chance meet next weekend. Swimmers that have qualified for the Men's NCAA Championships will be announced March 7 or 8.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1.) No. 4 Indiana 1504
T-2.) No. 17 Ohio State 1382
T-2.) No. 11 Michigan 1382
4.) No. 20 Minnesota 879
5.) No. 23 Wisconsin 763
6.) Purdue 721.5
7.) Penn State 554.5
8.) Iowa 424
9.) Northwestern 349
10.) Michigan State 273