WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Tyler Downs' national title in platform diving as one of eight All-American showings in a 15th-place team finish at the NCAA Championships punctuated another memorable season for Purdue men's swimming & diving.
While posting their best finish since 2017, the Boilermakers placed among the top 20 for the fifth time in the last seven NCAA Championships dating back to 2015. They've also finished among the top 25 on 14 occasions since 2005.
Season Recaps: 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021
Purdue also had the opportunity to host the Big Ten Championships for the first time since 2016 and fourth time since the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center opened in 2001. The host school won four medals at Big Tens, including a pair of relay medals for the first time since 1998. The Boilermakers have won a relay medal at Big Tens in three consecutive years for the first time since 2001 to 2003.
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, who won his 11th career Big Ten Coach of the Year honor (most among active coaches in the league).
The Boilermakers matched a program record with 10 NCAAs qualifiers and were one of five teams with multiple divers in all three events at NCAAs. They scored a meet-high 81 points in the dive well while producing seven top-10 finishes, highlighted by 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 Johnson in 2017 to produce three top-10 showings, sharing top individual scoring honors among divers with fellow Olympian Andrew Capobianco (Indiana).
Nikola Aćin eclipsed a team record in the 50 freestyle that had stood since 2009, was part of both medal-winning relays at Big Tens, qualified for NCAAs as an individual for the second year in a row, and helped Purdue score in the 400 free relay at the national championship meet. The Olympian earned his sixth career All-America accolade.
Brady Samuels, Nick Sherman, Ryan Hrosik and Keelan Hart teamed up with Aćin as Purdue qualified for four relays at NCAAs. They were all part of a medal-winning relay at Big Tens as well, including a record-setting time in the 400 free relay.
Altogether, Samuels was part of five program records, headlined by a team benchmark in the 100 butterfly. He not only eclipsed a record that had stood since 2009 but lowered it by 0.51 hundredths of a second as the first Boilermaker to eclipse 46 seconds. He also set freshman records in the 100 free, 100 back and 100 fly – moving into the top two in team history in the freestyle and backstroke.
Jordan Rzepka won silver on both 3-meter and platform at the Big Ten Championships, joining David Colturi, Boudia and Johnson as Purdue freshmen to win multiple medals at Big Tens. He blew the roof off the Burke Aquatic Center with a 100-point dive from the tower in the championship final and also produced the top-scoring dive of the day on 10-meter at NCAAs. Rzepka joined Downs in the platform championship final in Atlanta and also scored on 1-meter, the event in which he earned his FINA World Championships bid for USA Diving.
Ben Bramley and Greg Duncan finished among the top 10 at NCAAs for the third time as a Boilermakers. They closed out their Purdue careers as four-year All-Americans while combining for seven career medals at Big Tens, accounting for 203 and 193 career points at the conference showcase to rank 1-2 among their class. Bramley received Academic All-America accolades for the second year in a row, becoming the program's third multi-year honoree and just the 16th Boilermaker since 1990 across all sports to accomplish the feat. Duncan became Purdue's fourth diver to be a four-time NCAA Championships qualifier.
Downs was also victorious on both 1-meter and 3-meter at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December, becoming the first man to sweep the springboards since the showcase became an annual event beginning in 2010.
The Boilermakers won eight events over three days in November to win the six-team Purdue Invitational for the first time since 2015 and fifth time since the meet was launched in the fall of 2003.
Purdue also continued to excel academically. The Boilermakers had 23 Academic All-Big Ten honorees this season, setting a program record for the second year in a row. They maintained a 3.34 cumulative team grade-point average through the completion of the spring semester in May.
Purdue will bid adieu to a group of dedicated seniors that includes Bramley, Duncan and Hrosik. Aćin and Sherman are projected to return as fifth-year student-athletes for the 2022-23 school year. Bennett, Hart, Rzepka and Samuels are also back in 2022-23.
NCAA CHAMPION
• Tyler Downs – Platform Diving
ALL-AMERICANS
• Tyler Downs – 3-Meter, Platform Diving
• Greg Duncan – 3-Meter Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – Platform Diving
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
• Ben Bramley – Third Team
HONORABLE ALL-AMERICANS
• 400 Free Relay Team – Brady Samuels, Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman, Keelan Hart
• Tyler Downs – 1-Meter Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter Diving
• Ben Bramley – Platform Diving
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Nikola Aćin – 50 & 100 Free, 200 & 400 Free Relays, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Sam Bennett – 3-Meter Diving
• Ben Bramley – Platform Diving
• Tyler Downs – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform Diving
• Greg Duncan – 1-Meter, 3-Meter Diving
• Keelan Hart – 400 Free & 400 Medley Relays
• Ryan Hrosik – 200 Free & 200 Medley Relays
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform Diving
• Brady Samuels – 200 & 400 Free Relays, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Nick Sherman – 200 & 400 Free Relays, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
BIG TEN DIVING COACH OF THE YEAR
• Adam Soldati
CSCAA 100 GREATEST COACHES OF LAST 100 YEARS
• Adam Soldati
CSCAA STEADMAN AWARD RECIPIENT
• Dan Ross – for doing the most spread happiness in the sport of swimming & diving
BIG TEN MEDALISTS
• Jordan Rzepka – Silver on 3-Meter, Silver on Platform (Second Team All-Big Ten)
• 200 Free Relay Team (Bronze) – Nick Sherman, Ryan Hrosik, Nikola Aćin, Brady Samuels
• 400 Free Relay Team (Bronze) – Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman, Keelan Hart, Brady Samuels
MEDALISTS AT USA DIVING WINTER NATIONALS
• Tyler Downs – Gold on 1-Meter, 3-Meter & 3-Meter Synchro; Silver on 10-Meter Synchro
• Greg Duncan – Gold on 3-Meter Synchro
• Jordan Rzepka – Silver on 10-Meter Synchro; Bronze on 1-Meter
SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
• Jordan Rzepka – 3-Meter, Platform Diving
SCORED IN ALL 3 OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL EVENTS AT BIG TENS
• Tyler Downs – 76 Points
• Jordan Rzepka – 76 Points
• Greg Duncan – 59 Points
• Brady Samuels – 59 Points
• Nick Sherman – 52 Points
• Nikola Aćin – 51.5 Points
• Brett Riley – 42 Points
• Ben Bramley – 34 Points
• Sam Bennett – 31 Points
BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
• Nikola Aćin – Swimmer of the Week (Nov. 10)
• Brady Samuels – Swimmer of the Week (Jan. 12), Freshman of the Week (Nov. 24)
• Tyler Downs – Diver of the Week (Oct. 27, Nov. 10, Nov. 24), Freshman of the Week (Oct. 27)
• Luke Fortner – Freshman of the Week (Jan. 12)
• Jordan Rzepka – Freshman of the Week (Feb. 2)
PROGRAM RECORDS
• 50 Free – Nikola Aćin, 19.31
• 100 Fly – Brady Samuels, 45.64
• 200 IM – Nick Sherman, 1:43.42
• 400 Free Relay – Brady Samuels, Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman & Keelan Hart, 2:49.74
FRESHMAN RECORDS
• 100 Free – Brady Samuels, 42.19
• 100 Back – Brady Samuels, 46.68
• 100 Fly – Brady Samuels, 45.64
FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Nikola Aćin – 4x100 Free Relay (for Serbia)
• Nikola Bjelajac – 50-Meter Freestyle (for Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Tyler Downs – 3-Meter, 3-Meter Synchro Diving
• Greg Duncan – 1-Meter, 3-Meter Synchro Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter Diving
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
• Ben Bramley
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP HONOREE
• Brett Riley
TEAM GPAs
• Fall Semester: 3.29
• Spring Semester: 3.24
• Cumulative Team GPA through May: 3.34
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN (3.0+ GPA)
• Nikola Aćin
• Ben Bramley
• Elliot Cooper
• Greg Duncan
• David Forsyth
• Aaron Frollo
• Batuhan Hakan
• Keelan Hart
• Ryan Hrosik
• Michael Juengel
• Charlie King
• Coleman Modglin
• Blake Ratliff
• Brett Riley
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Griffin Seaver
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Jack Smith
• Liam Walker
• Jude Wenker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
CSCAA FIRST TEAM SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & NCAAs Qualifier)
• Nikola Aćin
• Sam Bennett
• Ben Bramley
• Keelan Hart
• Jordan Rzepka
• Nick Sherman
CSCAA SECOND TEAM SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & B Cut)
• Liam Walker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
BIG TEN DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS (3.7+ GPA)
• Nikola Aćin
• Ben Bramley
• Elliot Cooper
• Aaron Frollo
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
While posting their best finish since 2017, the Boilermakers placed among the top 20 for the fifth time in the last seven NCAA Championships dating back to 2015. They've also finished among the top 25 on 14 occasions since 2005.
Season Recaps: 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021
Purdue also had the opportunity to host the Big Ten Championships for the first time since 2016 and fourth time since the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center opened in 2001. The host school won four medals at Big Tens, including a pair of relay medals for the first time since 1998. The Boilermakers have won a relay medal at Big Tens in three consecutive years for the first time since 2001 to 2003.
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, who won his 11th career Big Ten Coach of the Year honor (most among active coaches in the league).
The Boilermakers matched a program record with 10 NCAAs qualifiers and were one of five teams with multiple divers in all three events at NCAAs. They scored a meet-high 81 points in the dive well while producing seven top-10 finishes, highlighted by 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 Johnson in 2017 to produce three top-10 showings, sharing top individual scoring honors among divers with fellow Olympian Andrew Capobianco (Indiana).
Nikola Aćin eclipsed a team record in the 50 freestyle that had stood since 2009, was part of both medal-winning relays at Big Tens, qualified for NCAAs as an individual for the second year in a row, and helped Purdue score in the 400 free relay at the national championship meet. The Olympian earned his sixth career All-America accolade.
Brady Samuels, Nick Sherman, Ryan Hrosik and Keelan Hart teamed up with Aćin as Purdue qualified for four relays at NCAAs. They were all part of a medal-winning relay at Big Tens as well, including a record-setting time in the 400 free relay.
Altogether, Samuels was part of five program records, headlined by a team benchmark in the 100 butterfly. He not only eclipsed a record that had stood since 2009 but lowered it by 0.51 hundredths of a second as the first Boilermaker to eclipse 46 seconds. He also set freshman records in the 100 free, 100 back and 100 fly – moving into the top two in team history in the freestyle and backstroke.
Jordan Rzepka won silver on both 3-meter and platform at the Big Ten Championships, joining David Colturi, Boudia and Johnson as Purdue freshmen to win multiple medals at Big Tens. He blew the roof off the Burke Aquatic Center with a 100-point dive from the tower in the championship final and also produced the top-scoring dive of the day on 10-meter at NCAAs. Rzepka joined Downs in the platform championship final in Atlanta and also scored on 1-meter, the event in which he earned his FINA World Championships bid for USA Diving.
Ben Bramley and Greg Duncan finished among the top 10 at NCAAs for the third time as a Boilermakers. They closed out their Purdue careers as four-year All-Americans while combining for seven career medals at Big Tens, accounting for 203 and 193 career points at the conference showcase to rank 1-2 among their class. Bramley received Academic All-America accolades for the second year in a row, becoming the program's third multi-year honoree and just the 16th Boilermaker since 1990 across all sports to accomplish the feat. Duncan became Purdue's fourth diver to be a four-time NCAA Championships qualifier.
Downs was also victorious on both 1-meter and 3-meter at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December, becoming the first man to sweep the springboards since the showcase became an annual event beginning in 2010.
The Boilermakers won eight events over three days in November to win the six-team Purdue Invitational for the first time since 2015 and fifth time since the meet was launched in the fall of 2003.
Purdue also continued to excel academically. The Boilermakers had 23 Academic All-Big Ten honorees this season, setting a program record for the second year in a row. They maintained a 3.34 cumulative team grade-point average through the completion of the spring semester in May.
Purdue will bid adieu to a group of dedicated seniors that includes Bramley, Duncan and Hrosik. Aćin and Sherman are projected to return as fifth-year student-athletes for the 2022-23 school year. Bennett, Hart, Rzepka and Samuels are also back in 2022-23.
NCAA CHAMPION
• Tyler Downs – Platform Diving
ALL-AMERICANS
• Tyler Downs – 3-Meter, Platform Diving
• Greg Duncan – 3-Meter Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – Platform Diving
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
• Ben Bramley – Third Team
HONORABLE ALL-AMERICANS
• 400 Free Relay Team – Brady Samuels, Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman, Keelan Hart
• Tyler Downs – 1-Meter Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter Diving
• Ben Bramley – Platform Diving
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Nikola Aćin – 50 & 100 Free, 200 & 400 Free Relays, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Sam Bennett – 3-Meter Diving
• Ben Bramley – Platform Diving
• Tyler Downs – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform Diving
• Greg Duncan – 1-Meter, 3-Meter Diving
• Keelan Hart – 400 Free & 400 Medley Relays
• Ryan Hrosik – 200 Free & 200 Medley Relays
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform Diving
• Brady Samuels – 200 & 400 Free Relays, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Nick Sherman – 200 & 400 Free Relays, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
BIG TEN DIVING COACH OF THE YEAR
• Adam Soldati
CSCAA 100 GREATEST COACHES OF LAST 100 YEARS
• Adam Soldati
CSCAA STEADMAN AWARD RECIPIENT
• Dan Ross – for doing the most spread happiness in the sport of swimming & diving
BIG TEN MEDALISTS
• Jordan Rzepka – Silver on 3-Meter, Silver on Platform (Second Team All-Big Ten)
• 200 Free Relay Team (Bronze) – Nick Sherman, Ryan Hrosik, Nikola Aćin, Brady Samuels
• 400 Free Relay Team (Bronze) – Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman, Keelan Hart, Brady Samuels
MEDALISTS AT USA DIVING WINTER NATIONALS
• Tyler Downs – Gold on 1-Meter, 3-Meter & 3-Meter Synchro; Silver on 10-Meter Synchro
• Greg Duncan – Gold on 3-Meter Synchro
• Jordan Rzepka – Silver on 10-Meter Synchro; Bronze on 1-Meter
SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
• Jordan Rzepka – 3-Meter, Platform Diving
SCORED IN ALL 3 OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL EVENTS AT BIG TENS
• Tyler Downs – 76 Points
• Jordan Rzepka – 76 Points
• Greg Duncan – 59 Points
• Brady Samuels – 59 Points
• Nick Sherman – 52 Points
• Nikola Aćin – 51.5 Points
• Brett Riley – 42 Points
• Ben Bramley – 34 Points
• Sam Bennett – 31 Points
BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
• Nikola Aćin – Swimmer of the Week (Nov. 10)
• Brady Samuels – Swimmer of the Week (Jan. 12), Freshman of the Week (Nov. 24)
• Tyler Downs – Diver of the Week (Oct. 27, Nov. 10, Nov. 24), Freshman of the Week (Oct. 27)
• Luke Fortner – Freshman of the Week (Jan. 12)
• Jordan Rzepka – Freshman of the Week (Feb. 2)
PROGRAM RECORDS
• 50 Free – Nikola Aćin, 19.31
• 100 Fly – Brady Samuels, 45.64
• 200 IM – Nick Sherman, 1:43.42
• 400 Free Relay – Brady Samuels, Nikola Aćin, Nick Sherman & Keelan Hart, 2:49.74
FRESHMAN RECORDS
• 100 Free – Brady Samuels, 42.19
• 100 Back – Brady Samuels, 46.68
• 100 Fly – Brady Samuels, 45.64
FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Nikola Aćin – 4x100 Free Relay (for Serbia)
• Nikola Bjelajac – 50-Meter Freestyle (for Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Tyler Downs – 3-Meter, 3-Meter Synchro Diving
• Greg Duncan – 1-Meter, 3-Meter Synchro Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter Diving
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
• Ben Bramley
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP HONOREE
• Brett Riley
TEAM GPAs
• Fall Semester: 3.29
• Spring Semester: 3.24
• Cumulative Team GPA through May: 3.34
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN (3.0+ GPA)
• Nikola Aćin
• Ben Bramley
• Elliot Cooper
• Greg Duncan
• David Forsyth
• Aaron Frollo
• Batuhan Hakan
• Keelan Hart
• Ryan Hrosik
• Michael Juengel
• Charlie King
• Coleman Modglin
• Blake Ratliff
• Brett Riley
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Griffin Seaver
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Jack Smith
• Liam Walker
• Jude Wenker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
CSCAA FIRST TEAM SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & NCAAs Qualifier)
• Nikola Aćin
• Sam Bennett
• Ben Bramley
• Keelan Hart
• Jordan Rzepka
• Nick Sherman
CSCAA SECOND TEAM SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & B Cut)
• Liam Walker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
BIG TEN DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS (3.7+ GPA)
• Nikola Aćin
• Ben Bramley
• Elliot Cooper
• Aaron Frollo
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin