COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jordan Rzepka won silver on platform to medal in the dive well for the second day in a row and fourth time in his career, and Dylan Burau became the first Boilermaker to break a program record this season, highlighting the final day of the Big Ten Championships for Purdue men's swimming & diving.
Rzepka led the way as the Boilermakers had four championship final qualifiers in the final session of the four-day showcase. Rzepka finished top four in all three diving events this week, medaling on both 3-meter (bronze) and platform (silver) in the same year for the second time in his career. The junior now has six career top-five finishes and is 9-for-9 in career top-10 showings at Big Tens.
Rzepka accounted for a Purdue-best 81 team points this week, the most by a Boilermaker since Steele Johnson (85) was the Big Ten champion on platform and finished top four in all three events in 2017. Similar to classmate Sophie McAfee on the women's side, Rzepka has reached the 200-point mark (228) at Big Tens in just three years.
Burau eclipsed Joe Young's team record (1:41.93) in the 200 backstroke that had stood since the 2019 Big Ten Championships. The sophomore bested the benchmark by 0.4 tenths of a second with a time of 1:41.53 in the prelims, qualifying for his first career A final at Big Tens.
Brady Samuels finished fifth in the A final of the 100 freestyle, posting his fourth career top-5 showing at Big Tens. He won his prelim heat in 42.46 to earn the No. 2 seed in the A final. Samuels finished top 10 in all three of his individual events this week, scoring in all three of his races for the third consecutive year.
Senior Coleman Modglin closed out his career at Big Tens by racing in his first A final, qualifying in the 200 breaststroke. He was a four-year scorer at Big Tens, scoring in both breaststroke events all four seasons.
Seniors Ethan Shaw and Charlie King enjoyed some memorable moments in the 200 butterfly. Shaw moved into third place in team history with a prelim time of 1:45.05 to qualify for the B final. In his return home to the Columbus area this week, Shaw posted lifetime bests in the 200 free (1:35.62, 5th), 500 free (4:19.62, 2nd) and 200 fly – moving into the top five in team history in all three events. He also scored in all three of his individual events for the second year in a row.
King won the C final of the 200 fly in 1:45.31, essentially matching his lifetime best from a month ago at the Senior Day meet. Their classmate Griffin Seaver competed in both the 200 fly and 1650 free Saturday, logging over 2,000 yards of live racing action while scoring in both events. Seaver's lifetime best of 1:46.92 in the 200 fly earned him a spot on the program's all-time leaderboard in the event.
Freshman Pat Broderick moved into seventh place in team history in the mile, posting Purdue's best time (15:16.70) in the event since the 2018 Big Ten Championships. Aaron Frollo closed out his career at Big Tens with a lifetime best of 15:24.13 in the mile, moving up to 12th place on the Boilermakers' all-time leaderboard. They finished among the top-16 as B final-equivalent showings.
Maxwell Blume (1:56.93, 8th place in team history), Andrew Witty (1:57.40, 11th) and Raymond Whittaker (1:58.20, 14th) all moved up Purdue's all-time leaderboard in the 200 breast with their lifetime bests. Witty and Whittaker were both faster in the evening while scoring in the C final.
Holden Higbie was the runner-up in the consolation final of platform diving. He also won the 1-meter consol Thursday while scoring in all three diving events as a freshman.
Rzepka had the lead on the tower midway through the championship final, but his missed dive in round 4 opened the door for Carson Tyler to surge to the top of the leaderboard. Rzepka earned scores of 78-plus on four of his six dives for a list total of 433.65. He was recognized as second-team All-Big Ten again as a silver medalist.
The Boilermakers closed out the meet with a time of 2:53.18 in the 400 free relay. Connor McCarthy, Samuels, Idris Muhammad and Nathaniel Thomas posted the fifth-fastest time in team history and McCarthy's lifetime best of 43.56 on the leadoff leg elevated the junior into 12th place in the 100 free.
Selected swimmers will compete in Sunday's long course time trials in Columbus, chasing Olympic Trials qualifying times in the process. Purdue may choose to enter selected swimmers into an NCAA last chance meet next weekend (March 9-10) at Indiana. Championship season continues with the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (March 14-16 at Louisville), CSCAA National Invitational Championships (March 14-16 in Ocala, Fla.) and NCAA Championships (March 27-30 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis).
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1.) #5 Indiana 1520
2.) #13 Ohio State 1226
3.) #18 Michigan 1153.5
4.) #21 Wisconsin 1044.5
5.) Minnesota 849.5
6.) Northwestern 725
7.) Penn State 683
8.) Purdue 651.5
Rzepka led the way as the Boilermakers had four championship final qualifiers in the final session of the four-day showcase. Rzepka finished top four in all three diving events this week, medaling on both 3-meter (bronze) and platform (silver) in the same year for the second time in his career. The junior now has six career top-five finishes and is 9-for-9 in career top-10 showings at Big Tens.
Rzepka accounted for a Purdue-best 81 team points this week, the most by a Boilermaker since Steele Johnson (85) was the Big Ten champion on platform and finished top four in all three events in 2017. Similar to classmate Sophie McAfee on the women's side, Rzepka has reached the 200-point mark (228) at Big Tens in just three years.
Burau eclipsed Joe Young's team record (1:41.93) in the 200 backstroke that had stood since the 2019 Big Ten Championships. The sophomore bested the benchmark by 0.4 tenths of a second with a time of 1:41.53 in the prelims, qualifying for his first career A final at Big Tens.
Brady Samuels finished fifth in the A final of the 100 freestyle, posting his fourth career top-5 showing at Big Tens. He won his prelim heat in 42.46 to earn the No. 2 seed in the A final. Samuels finished top 10 in all three of his individual events this week, scoring in all three of his races for the third consecutive year.
Senior Coleman Modglin closed out his career at Big Tens by racing in his first A final, qualifying in the 200 breaststroke. He was a four-year scorer at Big Tens, scoring in both breaststroke events all four seasons.
Seniors Ethan Shaw and Charlie King enjoyed some memorable moments in the 200 butterfly. Shaw moved into third place in team history with a prelim time of 1:45.05 to qualify for the B final. In his return home to the Columbus area this week, Shaw posted lifetime bests in the 200 free (1:35.62, 5th), 500 free (4:19.62, 2nd) and 200 fly – moving into the top five in team history in all three events. He also scored in all three of his individual events for the second year in a row.
King won the C final of the 200 fly in 1:45.31, essentially matching his lifetime best from a month ago at the Senior Day meet. Their classmate Griffin Seaver competed in both the 200 fly and 1650 free Saturday, logging over 2,000 yards of live racing action while scoring in both events. Seaver's lifetime best of 1:46.92 in the 200 fly earned him a spot on the program's all-time leaderboard in the event.
Freshman Pat Broderick moved into seventh place in team history in the mile, posting Purdue's best time (15:16.70) in the event since the 2018 Big Ten Championships. Aaron Frollo closed out his career at Big Tens with a lifetime best of 15:24.13 in the mile, moving up to 12th place on the Boilermakers' all-time leaderboard. They finished among the top-16 as B final-equivalent showings.
Maxwell Blume (1:56.93, 8th place in team history), Andrew Witty (1:57.40, 11th) and Raymond Whittaker (1:58.20, 14th) all moved up Purdue's all-time leaderboard in the 200 breast with their lifetime bests. Witty and Whittaker were both faster in the evening while scoring in the C final.
Holden Higbie was the runner-up in the consolation final of platform diving. He also won the 1-meter consol Thursday while scoring in all three diving events as a freshman.
Rzepka had the lead on the tower midway through the championship final, but his missed dive in round 4 opened the door for Carson Tyler to surge to the top of the leaderboard. Rzepka earned scores of 78-plus on four of his six dives for a list total of 433.65. He was recognized as second-team All-Big Ten again as a silver medalist.
The Boilermakers closed out the meet with a time of 2:53.18 in the 400 free relay. Connor McCarthy, Samuels, Idris Muhammad and Nathaniel Thomas posted the fifth-fastest time in team history and McCarthy's lifetime best of 43.56 on the leadoff leg elevated the junior into 12th place in the 100 free.
Selected swimmers will compete in Sunday's long course time trials in Columbus, chasing Olympic Trials qualifying times in the process. Purdue may choose to enter selected swimmers into an NCAA last chance meet next weekend (March 9-10) at Indiana. Championship season continues with the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (March 14-16 at Louisville), CSCAA National Invitational Championships (March 14-16 in Ocala, Fla.) and NCAA Championships (March 27-30 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis).
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1.) #5 Indiana 1520
2.) #13 Ohio State 1226
3.) #18 Michigan 1153.5
4.) #21 Wisconsin 1044.5
5.) Minnesota 849.5
6.) Northwestern 725
7.) Penn State 683
8.) Purdue 651.5