WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Nick Sherman's silver medal at the Big Ten Championships, his two program records and his fourth time qualifying for the NCAA Championships highlighted Purdue men's swimming & diving's 2022-23 season, the Boilermakers' final campaign under longtime head coach Dan Ross.
Ross announced in March he planned to retire at the end of June, ending his 38-year tenure as head coach and 46 years associated with the program. He opted to walk away as the second-longest tenured head coach in the history of Purdue Athletics and fifth-longest active coach nationally. Ross had served as the leader of the Boilermakers since the 1985-86 season.
In April, assistant coach Alex Jerden was chosen to succeed Ross and become just the program's fourth head coach since 1939. The team will continue to be led by a Purdue alumnus, one that plans to continue the program's culture cultivated by Ross.
Season Recaps: 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021 / 2022
Fourteen of the 17 Boilermakers that scored at the Big Ten Championships did so in multiple events. Sherman closed out his career at Big Tens as the program's active scoring leader, accounting for 212 team points. Since the Big Ten went to the top-24 scoring format in 2016, Joe Young (2016-19) is the only other Purdue swimmer to score in all three individual events in four consecutive years.
Sherman won silver in the 200 individual medley, the Boilermakers' first IM medal at Big Tens since Guillermo Blanco in 2015. Sherman finished top six in all three of his individual events, joining Trent Pellini (in 2021) and Blanco as Purdue's only swimmers since 2013 to be three-time A finalists in one year.
Sam Bennett, Jordan Rzepka and Brady Samuels joined Sherman at the NCAA Championships, all three sophomores qualifying for the national championship meet for the second year in a row. Samuels qualified as an individual this year after breaking 42 seconds in the 100 freestyle at the Boiler-Make-It last chance meet the week after Big Tens. At NCAAs, he broke the team record in the 100 backstroke and earned honorable mention All-America accolades in the event.
Sherman earned his fourth career berth at the NCAA Championships and his third as an individual. He's believed to be just the sixth men's swimmer for Purdue to be a four-year NCAAs qualifier.
Rzepka won on the tower at the USA Diving Winter Nationals and NCAA Zone C Championships. He was a championship finalist in all three diving events at Big Tens and among 25 divers nationally to qualify for NCAAs in all three events. He'll also represent USA Diving at the World Aquatics Championships for the second year in a row.
Ethan Shaw, Samuels and Sherman all posted career-best times in four events, moving up the program's all-time leaderboards in each in the process. Highlighted by winning bronze in the 500 free, Shaw was the program's top performer in Purdue's first appearance at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships in March.
Samuels, Rzepka, Bennett and Shaw will headline the returning Boilermakers for the 2023-24 campaign.
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICA
• Brady Samuels – 100 Backstroke
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFERS
• Sam Bennett – 1-Meter & 3-Meter Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter, 3-Meter & Platform Diving
• Brady Samuels – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Back
• Nick Sherman – 100 & 200 Free, 200 IM
BIG TEN MEDALIST & SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
• Nick Sherman – Silver in 200 IM
USA DIVING MEDALIST
• Jordan Rzepka – Gold on 10-Meter at Winter Nationals, Gold in 10-Meter Synchro at National Championships
WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Jordan Rzepka – 10-Meter Synchro
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES QUALIFIER
• Sam Bennett – 3-Meter Diving
PROGRAM RECORDS
• Nick Sherman – 1:33.27 in 200 Free, 1:42.62 in 200 IM
• Brady Samuels – 45.17 in 100 Back
MORE CAREER BESTS TO MOVE UP OR JOIN PURDUE RECORD BOOK
• Brady Samuels – 2nd in 100 Free (41.99), 2nd in 200 Free (1:34.85), 4th in 50 Free (19.46)
• 200 Medley Relay – 2nd (1:23.86)
…Muhammad, Witty, Samuels, Sherman
• 800 Free Relay – 2nd (6:24.66)
…Sherman, McCarthy, Samuels, Wenker
• Ethan Shaw – 3rd in 500 Free (4:20.65), 7th in 200 Fly (1:45.85), 12th in 200 Free (1:36.64), 12th in 400 IM (3:51.23)
• Nick Sherman – 3rd in 100 Breast (52.95), 5th in 50 Free (19.47)
• 200 Free Relay Team – 3rd (1:17.35)
…Sherman, Samuels, Juengel, Muhammad
• 400 Free Relay Team – 3rd (2:50.87)
…Sherman, Samuels, Muhammad, Hart
• Coleman Modglin – 4th in 100 Breast (53.08)
• 400 Medley Relay – 4th (3:08.36)
…Muhammad, Sherman, Samuels, Hart
• Idris Muhammad – 5th in 100 Back (46.98)
• Aaron Frollo – 7th in 500 Free (4:23.64), 12th in 1000 Free (9:18.00), 14th in 1650 Free (15:27.18)
• Andrew Witty – 9th in 100 Breast (53.51), 15th in 200 Breast (1:58.73)
• Jordan Rzepka – 9th in Platform Diving (451.40)
• Andrew Alders – 12th in 200 Breast (1:58.26)
• Andrew Swenson – 13th in 200 Back (1:44.41)
• Skyler Younkin – 14th in 100 Fly (47.54)
• Sam Bennett – 14th on 3-Meter (408.20)
• Connor McCarthy – 15th in 200 Free (1:37.32)
• Dylan Burau – 15th in 200 Back (1:45.59)
SCORED IN ALL 3 OF HIS INDIVIDUAL EVENTS AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Nick Sherman – 200 IM, 200 Free, 200 Breast
• Jordan Rzepka – All 3 Diving Events
• Brady Samuels – 100 Back, 100 Free, 100 Fly
• Sam Bennett – All 3 Diving Events
• Ethan Shaw – 200 Fly, 500 Free, 400 IM
• Liam Walker – 100 & 200 Fly, 50 Free
BIG TEN POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
• Blake Ratliff
BIG TEN DIVER OF THE WEEK
• Jordan Rzepka – Oct. 19
CSCAA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALIST
• Ethan Shaw – Bronze in 500 Free
CSCAA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Wyatt Blair – 50 & 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 200 Free Relay, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Dylan Burau – 50, 100 & 200 Back; 200 Free Relay; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Gabe Eschbach – 500, 1000 & 1650 Free; 200, 400 & 800 Free Relays
• Luke Fortner – 50, 100 & 200 Breast; 100 IM; 200 Free Relay; 400 Medley Relay
• Andy Kelly – 50, 100 & 200 Back; 50 Free; 50 Fly; 200 & 400 Free Relays; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Charlie King – 50 & 200 Fly, 100 IM, 200 & 800 Free Relays; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Kevin O'Dare – 50 & 100 Breast, 100 IM, 200 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay
• Ethan Shaw – 200 & 500 Free; 200 Fly; 200, 400 & 800 Free Relays; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Andrew Swenson – 200 Back, 400 Free Relay
• Raymond Whittaker – 50, 100 & 200 Breast; 200 IM; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Ryan Zerpa – 50, 100 & 200 Fly; 50 Back; 200 Free Relay; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
TEAM GPAs
• Fall Semester: 3.34
• Spring Semester: 3.34
• Cumulative: 3.39
• CSCAA Scholar All-America Team
NOTABLE HONORS
• Idris Muhammad – NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum Participant (Big Ten Male Representative)
• Blake Ratliff – Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree
CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT (4 HONOREES PER TEAM WITH 3.5+ CUMULATIVE GPA)
• Aaron Frollo
• Blake Ratliff
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN (3.0+ CUMULATIVE GPA)
• Sam Bennett
• Elliot Cooper
• Kal Findley
• Luke Fortner
• Aaron Frollo
• Keelan Hart
• Michael Juengel
• Charlie King
• Coleman Modglin
• Idris Muhammad
• Blake Ratliff
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Jordan Rzepka
• Griffin Seaver
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Jack Smith
• Khadin Soto
• Liam Walker
• Jude Wenker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
• Ryan Zerpa
BIG TEN DISTINGUSHED SCHOLARS (3.7+ GPA FOR 2022-23)
• Elliot Cooper
• Luke Fortner
• Aaron Frollo
• Keelan Hart
• Blake Ratliff
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Liam Walker
• Jude Wenker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
CSCAA SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENT)
• Sam Bennett – First Team
• Nick Sherman – First Team
• Ethan Shaw – Second Team
• Andrew Witty – Second Team
• Skyler Younkin – Second Team
Ross announced in March he planned to retire at the end of June, ending his 38-year tenure as head coach and 46 years associated with the program. He opted to walk away as the second-longest tenured head coach in the history of Purdue Athletics and fifth-longest active coach nationally. Ross had served as the leader of the Boilermakers since the 1985-86 season.
In April, assistant coach Alex Jerden was chosen to succeed Ross and become just the program's fourth head coach since 1939. The team will continue to be led by a Purdue alumnus, one that plans to continue the program's culture cultivated by Ross.
Season Recaps: 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021 / 2022
Fourteen of the 17 Boilermakers that scored at the Big Ten Championships did so in multiple events. Sherman closed out his career at Big Tens as the program's active scoring leader, accounting for 212 team points. Since the Big Ten went to the top-24 scoring format in 2016, Joe Young (2016-19) is the only other Purdue swimmer to score in all three individual events in four consecutive years.
Sherman won silver in the 200 individual medley, the Boilermakers' first IM medal at Big Tens since Guillermo Blanco in 2015. Sherman finished top six in all three of his individual events, joining Trent Pellini (in 2021) and Blanco as Purdue's only swimmers since 2013 to be three-time A finalists in one year.
Sam Bennett, Jordan Rzepka and Brady Samuels joined Sherman at the NCAA Championships, all three sophomores qualifying for the national championship meet for the second year in a row. Samuels qualified as an individual this year after breaking 42 seconds in the 100 freestyle at the Boiler-Make-It last chance meet the week after Big Tens. At NCAAs, he broke the team record in the 100 backstroke and earned honorable mention All-America accolades in the event.
Sherman earned his fourth career berth at the NCAA Championships and his third as an individual. He's believed to be just the sixth men's swimmer for Purdue to be a four-year NCAAs qualifier.
Rzepka won on the tower at the USA Diving Winter Nationals and NCAA Zone C Championships. He was a championship finalist in all three diving events at Big Tens and among 25 divers nationally to qualify for NCAAs in all three events. He'll also represent USA Diving at the World Aquatics Championships for the second year in a row.
Ethan Shaw, Samuels and Sherman all posted career-best times in four events, moving up the program's all-time leaderboards in each in the process. Highlighted by winning bronze in the 500 free, Shaw was the program's top performer in Purdue's first appearance at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships in March.
Samuels, Rzepka, Bennett and Shaw will headline the returning Boilermakers for the 2023-24 campaign.
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICA
• Brady Samuels – 100 Backstroke
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFERS
• Sam Bennett – 1-Meter & 3-Meter Diving
• Jordan Rzepka – 1-Meter, 3-Meter & Platform Diving
• Brady Samuels – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Back
• Nick Sherman – 100 & 200 Free, 200 IM
BIG TEN MEDALIST & SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
• Nick Sherman – Silver in 200 IM
USA DIVING MEDALIST
• Jordan Rzepka – Gold on 10-Meter at Winter Nationals, Gold in 10-Meter Synchro at National Championships
WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Jordan Rzepka – 10-Meter Synchro
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES QUALIFIER
• Sam Bennett – 3-Meter Diving
PROGRAM RECORDS
• Nick Sherman – 1:33.27 in 200 Free, 1:42.62 in 200 IM
• Brady Samuels – 45.17 in 100 Back
MORE CAREER BESTS TO MOVE UP OR JOIN PURDUE RECORD BOOK
• Brady Samuels – 2nd in 100 Free (41.99), 2nd in 200 Free (1:34.85), 4th in 50 Free (19.46)
• 200 Medley Relay – 2nd (1:23.86)
…Muhammad, Witty, Samuels, Sherman
• 800 Free Relay – 2nd (6:24.66)
…Sherman, McCarthy, Samuels, Wenker
• Ethan Shaw – 3rd in 500 Free (4:20.65), 7th in 200 Fly (1:45.85), 12th in 200 Free (1:36.64), 12th in 400 IM (3:51.23)
• Nick Sherman – 3rd in 100 Breast (52.95), 5th in 50 Free (19.47)
• 200 Free Relay Team – 3rd (1:17.35)
…Sherman, Samuels, Juengel, Muhammad
• 400 Free Relay Team – 3rd (2:50.87)
…Sherman, Samuels, Muhammad, Hart
• Coleman Modglin – 4th in 100 Breast (53.08)
• 400 Medley Relay – 4th (3:08.36)
…Muhammad, Sherman, Samuels, Hart
• Idris Muhammad – 5th in 100 Back (46.98)
• Aaron Frollo – 7th in 500 Free (4:23.64), 12th in 1000 Free (9:18.00), 14th in 1650 Free (15:27.18)
• Andrew Witty – 9th in 100 Breast (53.51), 15th in 200 Breast (1:58.73)
• Jordan Rzepka – 9th in Platform Diving (451.40)
• Andrew Alders – 12th in 200 Breast (1:58.26)
• Andrew Swenson – 13th in 200 Back (1:44.41)
• Skyler Younkin – 14th in 100 Fly (47.54)
• Sam Bennett – 14th on 3-Meter (408.20)
• Connor McCarthy – 15th in 200 Free (1:37.32)
• Dylan Burau – 15th in 200 Back (1:45.59)
SCORED IN ALL 3 OF HIS INDIVIDUAL EVENTS AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Nick Sherman – 200 IM, 200 Free, 200 Breast
• Jordan Rzepka – All 3 Diving Events
• Brady Samuels – 100 Back, 100 Free, 100 Fly
• Sam Bennett – All 3 Diving Events
• Ethan Shaw – 200 Fly, 500 Free, 400 IM
• Liam Walker – 100 & 200 Fly, 50 Free
BIG TEN POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
• Blake Ratliff
BIG TEN DIVER OF THE WEEK
• Jordan Rzepka – Oct. 19
CSCAA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALIST
• Ethan Shaw – Bronze in 500 Free
CSCAA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
• Wyatt Blair – 50 & 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 200 Free Relay, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Dylan Burau – 50, 100 & 200 Back; 200 Free Relay; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Gabe Eschbach – 500, 1000 & 1650 Free; 200, 400 & 800 Free Relays
• Luke Fortner – 50, 100 & 200 Breast; 100 IM; 200 Free Relay; 400 Medley Relay
• Andy Kelly – 50, 100 & 200 Back; 50 Free; 50 Fly; 200 & 400 Free Relays; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Charlie King – 50 & 200 Fly, 100 IM, 200 & 800 Free Relays; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Kevin O'Dare – 50 & 100 Breast, 100 IM, 200 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay
• Ethan Shaw – 200 & 500 Free; 200 Fly; 200, 400 & 800 Free Relays; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Andrew Swenson – 200 Back, 400 Free Relay
• Raymond Whittaker – 50, 100 & 200 Breast; 200 IM; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
• Ryan Zerpa – 50, 100 & 200 Fly; 50 Back; 200 Free Relay; 200 & 400 Medley Relays
TEAM GPAs
• Fall Semester: 3.34
• Spring Semester: 3.34
• Cumulative: 3.39
• CSCAA Scholar All-America Team
NOTABLE HONORS
• Idris Muhammad – NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum Participant (Big Ten Male Representative)
• Blake Ratliff – Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree
CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT (4 HONOREES PER TEAM WITH 3.5+ CUMULATIVE GPA)
• Aaron Frollo
• Blake Ratliff
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN (3.0+ CUMULATIVE GPA)
• Sam Bennett
• Elliot Cooper
• Kal Findley
• Luke Fortner
• Aaron Frollo
• Keelan Hart
• Michael Juengel
• Charlie King
• Coleman Modglin
• Idris Muhammad
• Blake Ratliff
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Jordan Rzepka
• Griffin Seaver
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Jack Smith
• Khadin Soto
• Liam Walker
• Jude Wenker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
• Ryan Zerpa
BIG TEN DISTINGUSHED SCHOLARS (3.7+ GPA FOR 2022-23)
• Elliot Cooper
• Luke Fortner
• Aaron Frollo
• Keelan Hart
• Blake Ratliff
• Rafael Rodriguez
• Ethan Shaw
• Nick Sherman
• Liam Walker
• Jude Wenker
• Andrew Witty
• Skyler Younkin
CSCAA SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENT)
• Sam Bennett – First Team
• Nick Sherman – First Team
• Ethan Shaw – Second Team
• Andrew Witty – Second Team
• Skyler Younkin – Second Team