ATLANTA – Purdue's Tyler Downs ripped an 84-point dive in the final round to overcome a 30-point deficit, winning the national title in platform diving to help the Boilermakers finish in 15th place in the team scoring at the NCAA Championships.
Jordan Rzepka (7th) and Ben Bramley (10th) also finished top 10 on the tower to garner All-America honors. Platform diving produced 39 of Purdue's 85 points at the national championship meet.
Downs became the fifth Purdue diver to win a national title at the NCAA Championships, joining David Boudia (6 from 2009-11), Steele Johnson (5 from 2015-18), Casey Matthews (2013) and Brandon Loschiavo (2021). That quintet has teamed up for 14 total NCAA titles under head diving coach Adam Soldati.
In the last 10 months, Downs has now been victorious on 3-meter at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials (June), both springboards at the USA Diving Winter Nationals (December) and platform at the NCAA Championships.
The Boilermakers closed out the meet with a pair of team records in the 400 freestyle relay, earning honorable mention All-America accolades in a relay for a third straight NCAA Championships. That's a feat the program had never accomplished before. Brady Samuels, Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman and Keelan Hart teamed up for a time of 2:49.74, eclipsing the benchmark (2:50.09) they set at the Big Ten Championships last month. All four Boilermakers posted 100-yard splits of in the 42-second range.
As the leadoff, Samuels eclipsed the Purdue freshman record in the 100 free for the fifth time this season. His time of 42.19 also continues to rank second in team history overall.
Aćin, who earned his sixth career All-America accolade, led the way with a relay split of 42.02 on the second leg. Individually, he raced in the 100 free prelims Saturday morning and finished 29th among a field of 54 swimmers with a time of 42.47.
The Boilermakers scored a meet-high 81 points in the dive well while producing seven top-10 finishes. They had at least two top-10 finishers in all three diving events. Downs was also fifth on 3-meter and ninth on 1-meter. He became the first Boilermaker since Steele Johnson in 2017 to produce three top-10 showings, sharing top individual scoring honors with fellow Olympian Andrew Capobianco (Indiana).
Downs earned a score of 84.8 on his back 2 ½ 1 ½-twister in the sixth round of the championship final. Miami's Zach Cooper carried a 30-point lead into the final round and had the advantage of diving last, but Cooper missed his final dive for a score of 50.4. The 34-point swing was enough to make Downs the national champion.
The final five divers – including Rzepka, Downs and Cooper – had to wait approximately 20 minutes before they had an opportunity to perform their final dives of the championship final. Florida's Leo Garcia was awarded a redo on his final dive after a fan whistled loudly amidst the hush in the aquatic center on Garcia's takeoff. The appeal process with the judges led to the delay. When action resumed after the lull, Downs was the only competitor to rip his final dive for a big score.
Though he was unable to duplicate his performance in his first career championship final at NCAAs, Rzepka earned his All-America accolade via a memorable finish in the prelim. He was in 29th place entering round 5 but rocketed up the leaderboard with consecutive 90-point dives – a 98.05 on a forward 4 ½ and a 93.10 on a forward 2 ½ 3-twister. Both scores were the best among the 45-diver field in those rounds and the 98.05 stood up as the top-scoring dive of the day overall.
As the runner-up in the consolation final, Bramley finished top 10 on the tower at NCAAs for the third time in his career. He's also a four-year All-American.
Downs followed in the footsteps of fellow Olympian Loschiavo in giving the Boilermakers the last two NCAA champions on platform. Auburn (2004-06) was the last team to win consecutive national titles in a diving event with a different individual event winner. Coincidentally, Auburn's 2005 team had also come up at this time last year. The 1-2 finish by Loschiavo and Bramley on 10-meter at NCAAs last season was the first time any team had accomplished that feat since the Tigers (on 10-meter) in 2005.
With two championship finalists on both 3-meter and platform this week, Purdue had multiple full-fledged (top 8) All-Americans on both a springboard and the tower for the first time since 2017. Joe Cifelli (1-meter), Johnson (all 3 events) and Loschiavo (platform) teamed up to do it five years ago.
The Boilermakers finished among the top 25 in the team scoring at the NCAA Championships for the 14th time since 2005. The 15th-place showing was the best since placing 13th in 2017. Purdue has also been top 20 at NCAAs five of the last seven times the meet has been held (since 2015).
SATURDAY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Platform Diving
Tyler Downs, 447.20 – NCAA CHAMPION (20 Points); All-American
Jordan Rzepka, 379.80 (Prelim Score) – Finished 7th in Championship Final (12 Points); All-American
Ben Bramley, 396.85 – Finished 2nd in Consolation Final, 10th Overall (7 Points); H.M. All-American
400 Free Relay
Samuels, Aćin, Sherman, & Hart, 2:49.74 – Finished 15th Overall (4 Points); Program Record & H.M. All-Americans
Samuels leadoff leg split of 42.19 is a Purdue Freshman Record & No. 2 in team history
100 Free
Nikola Aćin, 42.47 – Finished 29th in Prelims
Jordan Rzepka (7th) and Ben Bramley (10th) also finished top 10 on the tower to garner All-America honors. Platform diving produced 39 of Purdue's 85 points at the national championship meet.
Downs became the fifth Purdue diver to win a national title at the NCAA Championships, joining David Boudia (6 from 2009-11), Steele Johnson (5 from 2015-18), Casey Matthews (2013) and Brandon Loschiavo (2021). That quintet has teamed up for 14 total NCAA titles under head diving coach Adam Soldati.
In the last 10 months, Downs has now been victorious on 3-meter at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials (June), both springboards at the USA Diving Winter Nationals (December) and platform at the NCAA Championships.
The Boilermakers closed out the meet with a pair of team records in the 400 freestyle relay, earning honorable mention All-America accolades in a relay for a third straight NCAA Championships. That's a feat the program had never accomplished before. Brady Samuels, Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman and Keelan Hart teamed up for a time of 2:49.74, eclipsing the benchmark (2:50.09) they set at the Big Ten Championships last month. All four Boilermakers posted 100-yard splits of in the 42-second range.
As the leadoff, Samuels eclipsed the Purdue freshman record in the 100 free for the fifth time this season. His time of 42.19 also continues to rank second in team history overall.
Aćin, who earned his sixth career All-America accolade, led the way with a relay split of 42.02 on the second leg. Individually, he raced in the 100 free prelims Saturday morning and finished 29th among a field of 54 swimmers with a time of 42.47.
The Boilermakers scored a meet-high 81 points in the dive well while producing seven top-10 finishes. They had at least two top-10 finishers in all three diving events. Downs was also fifth on 3-meter and ninth on 1-meter. He became the first Boilermaker since Steele Johnson in 2017 to produce three top-10 showings, sharing top individual scoring honors with fellow Olympian Andrew Capobianco (Indiana).
Downs earned a score of 84.8 on his back 2 ½ 1 ½-twister in the sixth round of the championship final. Miami's Zach Cooper carried a 30-point lead into the final round and had the advantage of diving last, but Cooper missed his final dive for a score of 50.4. The 34-point swing was enough to make Downs the national champion.
The final five divers – including Rzepka, Downs and Cooper – had to wait approximately 20 minutes before they had an opportunity to perform their final dives of the championship final. Florida's Leo Garcia was awarded a redo on his final dive after a fan whistled loudly amidst the hush in the aquatic center on Garcia's takeoff. The appeal process with the judges led to the delay. When action resumed after the lull, Downs was the only competitor to rip his final dive for a big score.
Though he was unable to duplicate his performance in his first career championship final at NCAAs, Rzepka earned his All-America accolade via a memorable finish in the prelim. He was in 29th place entering round 5 but rocketed up the leaderboard with consecutive 90-point dives – a 98.05 on a forward 4 ½ and a 93.10 on a forward 2 ½ 3-twister. Both scores were the best among the 45-diver field in those rounds and the 98.05 stood up as the top-scoring dive of the day overall.
As the runner-up in the consolation final, Bramley finished top 10 on the tower at NCAAs for the third time in his career. He's also a four-year All-American.
Downs followed in the footsteps of fellow Olympian Loschiavo in giving the Boilermakers the last two NCAA champions on platform. Auburn (2004-06) was the last team to win consecutive national titles in a diving event with a different individual event winner. Coincidentally, Auburn's 2005 team had also come up at this time last year. The 1-2 finish by Loschiavo and Bramley on 10-meter at NCAAs last season was the first time any team had accomplished that feat since the Tigers (on 10-meter) in 2005.
With two championship finalists on both 3-meter and platform this week, Purdue had multiple full-fledged (top 8) All-Americans on both a springboard and the tower for the first time since 2017. Joe Cifelli (1-meter), Johnson (all 3 events) and Loschiavo (platform) teamed up to do it five years ago.
The Boilermakers finished among the top 25 in the team scoring at the NCAA Championships for the 14th time since 2005. The 15th-place showing was the best since placing 13th in 2017. Purdue has also been top 20 at NCAAs five of the last seven times the meet has been held (since 2015).
SATURDAY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Platform Diving
Tyler Downs, 447.20 – NCAA CHAMPION (20 Points); All-American
Jordan Rzepka, 379.80 (Prelim Score) – Finished 7th in Championship Final (12 Points); All-American
Ben Bramley, 396.85 – Finished 2nd in Consolation Final, 10th Overall (7 Points); H.M. All-American
400 Free Relay
Samuels, Aćin, Sherman, & Hart, 2:49.74 – Finished 15th Overall (4 Points); Program Record & H.M. All-Americans
Samuels leadoff leg split of 42.19 is a Purdue Freshman Record & No. 2 in team history
100 Free
Nikola Aćin, 42.47 – Finished 29th in Prelims