COLUMBUS, Ohio – Purdue men's swimming established two more records on the final night of a successful week at the Big Ten Championships, with Nikola Aćin also winning his second silver medal while being part of both benchmarks.
By finishing in fourth place with a record-setting time (2:50.32, an A Cut) in the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, the Boilermakers were able to leapfrog Wisconsin in the team scoring for a fourth-place overall finish. That matches the best showing in program history. Purdue has now placed fourth in three of the last four years and six times since 2009 (also in 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019). Prior to 2009, the Boilermakers had only finished fourth twice before (1988, 1997) in the modern era of the Big Ten Championships.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1.) #11 Michigan 1401
2.) #8 Indiana 1357
3.) #21 Ohio State 1322
4.) Purdue 732
5.) #19 Wisconsin 729
6.) #20 Northwestern 722
7.) Penn State 619.5
8.) Iowa 566.5
9.) Minnesota 564
10.) Michigan State 196
Aćin eclipsed Danny Tucker's program record in the 100 freestyle that had stood since 2013. Aćin broke the record in the prelims while posting the top qualifying time (42.27). He nearly matched that time in the final and was out touched by .08 hundredths of a second by Ohio State's Semued Andreis for the Big Ten title. Andreis also won the 50 free Wednesday.
Aćin teamed with Nick Sherman, Trent Pellini and Ryan Lawrence on the 400 free relay. They smashed the program record from two years ago by 1.87 seconds. Sherman's leadoff leg of 42.88 moved the junior into third place in program history, his mark being just .04 hundredths of a second shy of Tucker's previous benchmark (42.84).
With their scoring finishes Saturday, Brett Riley, Aćin and Sherman joined Pellini as Boilermakers to score in all three of their individual events this week. Divers Brandon Loschiavo and Ben Bramley also accomplished the feat last week as Purdue hosted the diving portion of the split championships.
After also contributing to Purdue's silver medal in the 200 free relay Friday, Aćin became the first Boilermaker to medal in an individual event and a relay in the same year since Andrew Langenfeld and John Schmitt in 2009. Langenfeld continues to hold the program record in the 50 free. Sherman broke Schmitt's 200 free benchmark Tuesday, which had stood since 2009. Meanwhile, Aćin also won Purdue's first medal in an individual swimming event since Marat Amaltdinov repeated as the Big Ten champion in the 200 breaststroke in 2017. It was the program's first individual freestyle medal since Adam Johnston won bronze in the 50 in 2016.
Purdue racked up 56.5 points in the 100 free. All four Boilermakers that scored – Aćin, Sherman, Lawrence (43.62) and Ryan Hrosik (43.78) – posted a career-best time.
Freshmen Coleman Modglin and Aaron Frollo also moved up Purdue's all-time lists with career bests Saturday. Modglin scored in the C final of the 200 breast and moved into seventh place with a time of 1:56.88. Frollo was 25th in the mile and took over 15th place (15:33.01) on Purdue's all-time list.
Aćin was one of four swimmers in the entire event to post a sub-42 second split in the 400 free relay.
Five Boilermakers earned All-Big Ten honors based on their first- and second-place finishes. Loschiavo was first-team All-Big Ten. Acin, Hrosik, Lawrence and Sherman were all recognized as second-team honorees.
Aćin, Pellini and Sherman are all leading candidates to qualify for the NCAA Championships individually. The Boilermakers had an A Cut in the 200 medley relay last season, but the national rankings in the event did not break in their favor. With four different A Cuts in the relays and multiple strong individual candidates, Purdue should be in much better shape to send a larger group of student-athletes to the national championship meet this year. The divers begin competing at the Zone Championships, their NCAAs qualifier, Sunday morning in Lexington.
A full scoring breakdown and record recap for Big Tens will be posted here at PurdueSports.com on Monday or Tuesday.
By finishing in fourth place with a record-setting time (2:50.32, an A Cut) in the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, the Boilermakers were able to leapfrog Wisconsin in the team scoring for a fourth-place overall finish. That matches the best showing in program history. Purdue has now placed fourth in three of the last four years and six times since 2009 (also in 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019). Prior to 2009, the Boilermakers had only finished fourth twice before (1988, 1997) in the modern era of the Big Ten Championships.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1.) #11 Michigan 1401
2.) #8 Indiana 1357
3.) #21 Ohio State 1322
4.) Purdue 732
5.) #19 Wisconsin 729
6.) #20 Northwestern 722
7.) Penn State 619.5
8.) Iowa 566.5
9.) Minnesota 564
10.) Michigan State 196
Aćin eclipsed Danny Tucker's program record in the 100 freestyle that had stood since 2013. Aćin broke the record in the prelims while posting the top qualifying time (42.27). He nearly matched that time in the final and was out touched by .08 hundredths of a second by Ohio State's Semued Andreis for the Big Ten title. Andreis also won the 50 free Wednesday.
Aćin teamed with Nick Sherman, Trent Pellini and Ryan Lawrence on the 400 free relay. They smashed the program record from two years ago by 1.87 seconds. Sherman's leadoff leg of 42.88 moved the junior into third place in program history, his mark being just .04 hundredths of a second shy of Tucker's previous benchmark (42.84).
With their scoring finishes Saturday, Brett Riley, Aćin and Sherman joined Pellini as Boilermakers to score in all three of their individual events this week. Divers Brandon Loschiavo and Ben Bramley also accomplished the feat last week as Purdue hosted the diving portion of the split championships.
After also contributing to Purdue's silver medal in the 200 free relay Friday, Aćin became the first Boilermaker to medal in an individual event and a relay in the same year since Andrew Langenfeld and John Schmitt in 2009. Langenfeld continues to hold the program record in the 50 free. Sherman broke Schmitt's 200 free benchmark Tuesday, which had stood since 2009. Meanwhile, Aćin also won Purdue's first medal in an individual swimming event since Marat Amaltdinov repeated as the Big Ten champion in the 200 breaststroke in 2017. It was the program's first individual freestyle medal since Adam Johnston won bronze in the 50 in 2016.
Purdue racked up 56.5 points in the 100 free. All four Boilermakers that scored – Aćin, Sherman, Lawrence (43.62) and Ryan Hrosik (43.78) – posted a career-best time.
Freshmen Coleman Modglin and Aaron Frollo also moved up Purdue's all-time lists with career bests Saturday. Modglin scored in the C final of the 200 breast and moved into seventh place with a time of 1:56.88. Frollo was 25th in the mile and took over 15th place (15:33.01) on Purdue's all-time list.
Aćin was one of four swimmers in the entire event to post a sub-42 second split in the 400 free relay.
Five Boilermakers earned All-Big Ten honors based on their first- and second-place finishes. Loschiavo was first-team All-Big Ten. Acin, Hrosik, Lawrence and Sherman were all recognized as second-team honorees.
Aćin, Pellini and Sherman are all leading candidates to qualify for the NCAA Championships individually. The Boilermakers had an A Cut in the 200 medley relay last season, but the national rankings in the event did not break in their favor. With four different A Cuts in the relays and multiple strong individual candidates, Purdue should be in much better shape to send a larger group of student-athletes to the national championship meet this year. The divers begin competing at the Zone Championships, their NCAAs qualifier, Sunday morning in Lexington.
A full scoring breakdown and record recap for Big Tens will be posted here at PurdueSports.com on Monday or Tuesday.
| RELAY BREAKDOWN AT BIG TENS | |||||
| Relay | Boilermaker(s) | Time | Finish | A/B Cut | Leadoff Leg |
| 200 Free | Aćin, Hrosik, Sherman, Lawrence | 1:16.50 | 2nd | A | Acin 19.38 3rd in 50 Free |
| 400 Free | Sherman, Pellini, Aćin, Lawrence |
2:50.32 | 4th | A | Sherman 42.88 3rd in 100 Free |
| 200 Medley | Juengel, Pellini, Hrosik, Aćin | 1:23.82 | 4th | A | NA |
| 400 Medley | Juengel, Pellini, Sherman, Aćin | 3:05.92 | 4th | A | Juengel 46.97 2nd in 100 Back |
| 800 Free | Sherman, Hakan, Wenker, Alders | 6:24.63 | 7th | NA | Sherman 1:33.81 1st in 200 Free |
| TOP 3 TIMES IN TEAM HISTORY AT BIG TENS | |||
| Event | Boilermaker(s) | Time | All-Time Rank |
| 100 Free | Nikola Aćin | 42.27 | 1st |
| 200 Free | Nick Sherman | 1:33.81 | 1st |
| 100 Back | Michael Juengel | 46.97 | T-2nd |
| 200 IM | Trent Pellini | 1:44.00 | 2nd |
| 50 Free | Nikola Aćin | 19.38 | 3rd |
| 100 Free | Nick Sherman | 42.88 | 3rd |
| 100 Fly | Trent Pellini | 46.36 | 3rd |
| 200 IM | Nick Sherman | 1:44.13 | 3rd |
| 200 Medley Relay | Juengel, Pellini, Hrosik, Aćin | 1:23.82 | 1st |
| 200 Free Relay | Aćin, Hrosik, Sherman, Lawrence | 1:16.50 | 1st |
| 400 Free Relay | Sherman, Pellini, Aćin, Lawrence | 2:50.32 | 1st |
| 800 Free Relay | Sherman, Hakan, Wenker, Alders | 6:24.63 | 1st |
| 400 Medley Relay | Juengel, Pellini, Sherman, Aćin | 3:05.92 | 2nd |