MINNEAPOLIS – Event sweeps of the freestyle sprints and springboard diving by Nikola Aćin and Jordan Rzepka highlighted the seven victories for Purdue men's swimming & diving at the two-day Big Ten Triple Duals vs. Minnesota and Northwestern.
The Boilermakers won three events Friday and four more Saturday. Aćin won a race on both days. He anchored Purdue's 200 free relay team to victory Saturday.
The Boilermakers closed the meet with another victory in the 400 free relay, winning by three seconds. But the quartet was disqualified for an early departure of .01 hundredth of a second on the final exchange.
Purdue dominated the diving events, accounting for four of the top five finishers in both springboard events and a 1-2-3 finish in Saturday's platform competition, which was a non-scoring exhibition. Tyler Downs was victorious on the tower for the second weekend in a row, posting his 11th event win of the season (including three victories at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December).
Rzepka impressed Friday, winning in vastly different ways on the springboards. As the final diver on 1-meter, he ripped his final dive for a score of 73.6 that allowed him to overtake Downs for a victory by 2.4 points. The freshman was up first on 3-meter and rode the momentum from his strong finish on 1-meter to a 53-point win. He ripped his final two dives for big scores of 83.6 and 89.7. Rzepka's list score of 434.40 moved him up to eighth place in program history.
Downs and Bramley both ripped an 80-point dive on the tower Saturday. Downs (462.95) won by 64 points after all six of his dives produced a score of at least 70 points.
Brady Samuels and Aćin both posted NCAA provisional qualifying times (B Cuts) in their event victories. Aćin now has 10 individual event victories this season. Samuels was given the opportunity to swim the leadoff leg on the 800 free relay Saturday and moved into 13th place in program history in the 200 free with a split of 1:37.31. The Boilermakers posted a team season best in the 800 free relay (6:29.31), moving into eighth place in program history.
Samuels and Aćin teamed up with Nick Sherman and Ryan Hrosik on the victorious 200 free relay team. Their time of 1:17.63 would have been good for fourth in team history if not for the 1:17.12 mark established at the Purdue Invitational in November. Hrosik (19.32), Samuels (19.05) and Aćin (19.16) all had impressive 50 splits. The night before, Aćin (19.67), Samuels (19.84) and Hrosik (19.97) all eclipsed 20 seconds in the 50 free, giving Purdue three of the top five finishers.
With their dual meet schedule complete, the Boilermakers set their sights on the championship season and three home meets at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. Purdue is slated to host the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 23-26) for the first time since 2016. The First Chance meet (Feb. 19-20) and Boiler-Make-It NCAA Last Chance meet (March 6) also return this season.
NOTABLE SEASON BESTS
• Jordan Rzepka – 434.40 on 3-Meter (8th in Team History)
• Ben Bramley – 398.20 on Platform
• Andrew Witty – 54.84 in 100 Breast
• Brady Samuels – 1:37.31 in 200 Free (13th in Team History)
• Keelan Hart – 1:38.07 in 200 Free
• Connor McCarthy – 1:38.20 in 200 Free
• Jack Smith – 1:46.93 in 200 Back
• Elliot Cooper – 1:48.02 in 200 Fly
• Sherman, Hrosik, Samuels, Aćin – 1:17.63 in 200 Free Relay
• Juengel, Modglin, Samuels, Aćin – 1:26.57 in 200 Medley Relay
• Samuels, McCarthy, Aćin, Sherman – 6:29.31 in 800 Free Relay (8th in Team History)
The Boilermakers won three events Friday and four more Saturday. Aćin won a race on both days. He anchored Purdue's 200 free relay team to victory Saturday.
| TEAM SCORES • Minnesota 190, Purdue 163 • Northwestern 201, Purdue 151 • Northwestern 188.5, Minnesota 164.5 PURDUE HAD 3 OF TOP 5 FINISHERS • 1-Meter Diving – Rzepka, Downs, Duncan, Bennett • 3-Meter Diving – Rzepka, Bramley, Downs, Bennett • Platform Diving – Downs, Bramley, Rzepka • 50 Free – Aćin, Samuels, Hrosik • 200 Free – Sherman, Hart, McCarthy |
PURDUE'S EVENT WINNERS • Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter & 3-Meter Diving • Nikola Aćin – 50 & 100 Free • Brady Samuels – 100 Fly • Tyler Downs – Platform Diving (Exhibition) • 200 Free Relay – Sherman, Hrosik, Samuels, Aćin MORE HEAT WINNERS • Ryan Hrosik – 50 Free • Keelan Hart – 100 Free • Skyler Younkin – 100 Fly |
The Boilermakers closed the meet with another victory in the 400 free relay, winning by three seconds. But the quartet was disqualified for an early departure of .01 hundredth of a second on the final exchange.
Purdue dominated the diving events, accounting for four of the top five finishers in both springboard events and a 1-2-3 finish in Saturday's platform competition, which was a non-scoring exhibition. Tyler Downs was victorious on the tower for the second weekend in a row, posting his 11th event win of the season (including three victories at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December).
Rzepka impressed Friday, winning in vastly different ways on the springboards. As the final diver on 1-meter, he ripped his final dive for a score of 73.6 that allowed him to overtake Downs for a victory by 2.4 points. The freshman was up first on 3-meter and rode the momentum from his strong finish on 1-meter to a 53-point win. He ripped his final two dives for big scores of 83.6 and 89.7. Rzepka's list score of 434.40 moved him up to eighth place in program history.
Downs and Bramley both ripped an 80-point dive on the tower Saturday. Downs (462.95) won by 64 points after all six of his dives produced a score of at least 70 points.
Brady Samuels and Aćin both posted NCAA provisional qualifying times (B Cuts) in their event victories. Aćin now has 10 individual event victories this season. Samuels was given the opportunity to swim the leadoff leg on the 800 free relay Saturday and moved into 13th place in program history in the 200 free with a split of 1:37.31. The Boilermakers posted a team season best in the 800 free relay (6:29.31), moving into eighth place in program history.
Samuels and Aćin teamed up with Nick Sherman and Ryan Hrosik on the victorious 200 free relay team. Their time of 1:17.63 would have been good for fourth in team history if not for the 1:17.12 mark established at the Purdue Invitational in November. Hrosik (19.32), Samuels (19.05) and Aćin (19.16) all had impressive 50 splits. The night before, Aćin (19.67), Samuels (19.84) and Hrosik (19.97) all eclipsed 20 seconds in the 50 free, giving Purdue three of the top five finishers.
With their dual meet schedule complete, the Boilermakers set their sights on the championship season and three home meets at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. Purdue is slated to host the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 23-26) for the first time since 2016. The First Chance meet (Feb. 19-20) and Boiler-Make-It NCAA Last Chance meet (March 6) also return this season.
NOTABLE SEASON BESTS
• Jordan Rzepka – 434.40 on 3-Meter (8th in Team History)
• Ben Bramley – 398.20 on Platform
• Andrew Witty – 54.84 in 100 Breast
• Brady Samuels – 1:37.31 in 200 Free (13th in Team History)
• Keelan Hart – 1:38.07 in 200 Free
• Connor McCarthy – 1:38.20 in 200 Free
• Jack Smith – 1:46.93 in 200 Back
• Elliot Cooper – 1:48.02 in 200 Fly
• Sherman, Hrosik, Samuels, Aćin – 1:17.63 in 200 Free Relay
• Juengel, Modglin, Samuels, Aćin – 1:26.57 in 200 Medley Relay
• Samuels, McCarthy, Aćin, Sherman – 6:29.31 in 800 Free Relay (8th in Team History)