GREENSBORO, N.C. – Brandon Loschiavo won the national title in platform diving as part of a historic 1-2 finish with teammate Ben Bramley, punctuating a successful showing at the NCAA Championships for Purdue men's swimming & diving.
Loschiavo became the fourth Purdue diver to win an NCAA title, joining David Boudia (6, 2009-11), Steele Johnson (5, 2015-18) and Casey Matthews (3-meter in 2013). On three occasions, the Boilermakers have had three divers compete in the same platform championship final at NCAAs. But the 1-2 finish for Loschiavo and Bramley was a program first. They both claimed their second career All-America honors in the event.
Nikola Aćin earned a pair of All-America accolades Saturday, qualifying for the championship final of the 100 freestyle and contributing to Purdue's 15th-place finish in the 400 free relay. His historic record-breaking swim in the preliminaries of the 100 free produced a time of 41.81 as the junior became the first Boilermaker to ever break 42 seconds in the event. Aćin was the lone Big Ten swimmer to qualify for the championship final. He settled for eighth place overall while becoming Purdue's first All-American in an individual freestyle event since distance standout Matthew Martin in 2000 and 2001.
Aćin eclipsed Purdue's previous record in the 100 free (42.84), which had stood since 2013, by more than a full second this season. He originally bested the mark while winning silver (42.27) at the Big Ten Championships earlier this month.
The Boilermakers placed 17th in the team scoring with 83 points. It marked the ninth time since 2005 that Purdue finished among the top 20 at the national championship meet. The Boilermakers produced scoring finishes in seven of their 12 events this week, both totals representing team records. Purdue's student-athletes earned 14 All-America honors.
Aćin teamed with Nick Sherman, Trent Pellini and Ryan Lawrence on the 400 free relay. The Boilermakers earned honorable mention All-America accolades in both the 200 and 400 free relays this week. Aćin, Sherman and Lawrence were part of both quartets, while Pellini was also an honorable mention All-American individually in the 100 breast. Prior to 2019, Purdue had never earned All-America honors in two different relays in the same year. The Boilermakers have now accomplished the feat each of the last two times the NCAA Championships have been held. Aćin was part of all four relays and Pellini three of the four.
Loschiavo is also a USA Diving national champion and three-time Big Ten champion on 10-meter. But he had not been a championship finalist at NCAAs since his freshman season in 2017. As a senior this season, he finally got over the hump at the national championship meet. Bramley placed sixth in the event in his debut at NCAAs in 2019. They finished 2-3 behind 2019 NCAA champion Jordan Windle of Texas in Saturday's prelim. Windle had the lead after round 2 of the final but suffered a bad miss in his round 3 effort.
Loschiavo and Bramley did not miss and both improved on their prelim scores. Loschiavo won the NCAA title with a list score of 469.05. Bramley ripped his final dive for a big score of 90 on a back 3 ½ to clinch silver. His list score climbed from 389.30 in the prelim to 450.20 in the final.
Loschiavo's first three dives of the final produced scores of 81.6, 86.4 and 86.7. That fast start coupled with a high degree of difficulty for his full list would have kept the pressure on Windle regardless. When Windle missed in round 3, the only drama over the final three rounds centered around whether or not Loschiavo and Bramley could finish 1-2.
Loschiavo's top-scoring dive of the day was in round 6 of the prelim when his forward 4 ½ produced a score of 94.35.
Aćin was Purdue's first championship finalist in a swimming event at NCAAs since Marat Amaltdinov qualified in the 200 breaststroke in 2017. With Johnson and Loschiavo in the platform final that night in Indianapolis as well, it also marked the last time the Boilermakers had representatives in championship finals of both a swimming event and a diving event in the same session/meet.
Aćin, Bramley and Sherman plus fellow NCAA Championships qualifiers Ryan Hrosik and Michael Juengel are all expected to return for the 2021-22 season. But with the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games on the calendar for this year, it will be a busy summer for numerous Boilermakers whether they compete again collegiately or not. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for both swimming and diving are set for June. Loschiavo has also qualified for the FINA Diving World Cup next month in Tokyo.
FINAL TEAM SCORES (15th-20th Place)
15.) Alabama 91
16.) Missouri 86
17.) Purdue 83
18.) LSU 68
19.) Miami (Fla.) 54
20.) Tennessee 48
PURDUE EVENTS SATURDAY AT NCAAs
Platform Diving
Brandon Loschiavo, 469.05 – Event Winner (20 Points); National Champion & All-American
Ben Bramley, 450.20 – Finished 2nd in Championship Final (17 Points); All-American
100 Free
Nikola Aćin, 41.81 (Prelim Time) – Finished 8th in Championship Final (11 Points); Program Record & All-American
Nick Sherman, 43.61 – Finished 44th in Prelims
400 Free Relay
Aćin, Sherman, Pellini & Lawrence, 2:51.42 – Finished 15th Overall (4 Points); H.M. All-Americans
Loschiavo became the fourth Purdue diver to win an NCAA title, joining David Boudia (6, 2009-11), Steele Johnson (5, 2015-18) and Casey Matthews (3-meter in 2013). On three occasions, the Boilermakers have had three divers compete in the same platform championship final at NCAAs. But the 1-2 finish for Loschiavo and Bramley was a program first. They both claimed their second career All-America honors in the event.
Nikola Aćin earned a pair of All-America accolades Saturday, qualifying for the championship final of the 100 freestyle and contributing to Purdue's 15th-place finish in the 400 free relay. His historic record-breaking swim in the preliminaries of the 100 free produced a time of 41.81 as the junior became the first Boilermaker to ever break 42 seconds in the event. Aćin was the lone Big Ten swimmer to qualify for the championship final. He settled for eighth place overall while becoming Purdue's first All-American in an individual freestyle event since distance standout Matthew Martin in 2000 and 2001.
Aćin eclipsed Purdue's previous record in the 100 free (42.84), which had stood since 2013, by more than a full second this season. He originally bested the mark while winning silver (42.27) at the Big Ten Championships earlier this month.
The Boilermakers placed 17th in the team scoring with 83 points. It marked the ninth time since 2005 that Purdue finished among the top 20 at the national championship meet. The Boilermakers produced scoring finishes in seven of their 12 events this week, both totals representing team records. Purdue's student-athletes earned 14 All-America honors.
Aćin teamed with Nick Sherman, Trent Pellini and Ryan Lawrence on the 400 free relay. The Boilermakers earned honorable mention All-America accolades in both the 200 and 400 free relays this week. Aćin, Sherman and Lawrence were part of both quartets, while Pellini was also an honorable mention All-American individually in the 100 breast. Prior to 2019, Purdue had never earned All-America honors in two different relays in the same year. The Boilermakers have now accomplished the feat each of the last two times the NCAA Championships have been held. Aćin was part of all four relays and Pellini three of the four.
Loschiavo is also a USA Diving national champion and three-time Big Ten champion on 10-meter. But he had not been a championship finalist at NCAAs since his freshman season in 2017. As a senior this season, he finally got over the hump at the national championship meet. Bramley placed sixth in the event in his debut at NCAAs in 2019. They finished 2-3 behind 2019 NCAA champion Jordan Windle of Texas in Saturday's prelim. Windle had the lead after round 2 of the final but suffered a bad miss in his round 3 effort.
Loschiavo and Bramley did not miss and both improved on their prelim scores. Loschiavo won the NCAA title with a list score of 469.05. Bramley ripped his final dive for a big score of 90 on a back 3 ½ to clinch silver. His list score climbed from 389.30 in the prelim to 450.20 in the final.
Loschiavo's first three dives of the final produced scores of 81.6, 86.4 and 86.7. That fast start coupled with a high degree of difficulty for his full list would have kept the pressure on Windle regardless. When Windle missed in round 3, the only drama over the final three rounds centered around whether or not Loschiavo and Bramley could finish 1-2.
Loschiavo's top-scoring dive of the day was in round 6 of the prelim when his forward 4 ½ produced a score of 94.35.
Aćin was Purdue's first championship finalist in a swimming event at NCAAs since Marat Amaltdinov qualified in the 200 breaststroke in 2017. With Johnson and Loschiavo in the platform final that night in Indianapolis as well, it also marked the last time the Boilermakers had representatives in championship finals of both a swimming event and a diving event in the same session/meet.
Aćin, Bramley and Sherman plus fellow NCAA Championships qualifiers Ryan Hrosik and Michael Juengel are all expected to return for the 2021-22 season. But with the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games on the calendar for this year, it will be a busy summer for numerous Boilermakers whether they compete again collegiately or not. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for both swimming and diving are set for June. Loschiavo has also qualified for the FINA Diving World Cup next month in Tokyo.
FINAL TEAM SCORES (15th-20th Place)
15.) Alabama 91
16.) Missouri 86
17.) Purdue 83
18.) LSU 68
19.) Miami (Fla.) 54
20.) Tennessee 48
PURDUE EVENTS SATURDAY AT NCAAs
Platform Diving
Brandon Loschiavo, 469.05 – Event Winner (20 Points); National Champion & All-American
Ben Bramley, 450.20 – Finished 2nd in Championship Final (17 Points); All-American
100 Free
Nikola Aćin, 41.81 (Prelim Time) – Finished 8th in Championship Final (11 Points); Program Record & All-American
Nick Sherman, 43.61 – Finished 44th in Prelims
400 Free Relay
Aćin, Sherman, Pellini & Lawrence, 2:51.42 – Finished 15th Overall (4 Points); H.M. All-Americans