MEET INFORMATION
Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving at the Big Ten Championships
Wednesday, Feb. 26 to Saturday, March 1 / All Sessions Streaming on B1G+
Opening Night Relays & Team Diving at 6 p.m. ET
Swimming Prelims at 11 a.m. Prelims / Diving Prelims at 1 p.m. / 6 p.m. Finals Sessions
Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center / Minneapolis, Minn.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving makes its second trip to the Twin Cities in just under a month, this time joining the rest of the league in the heart of the Upper Midwest for the Big Ten Championships.
Action is set for Wednesday evening through Saturday at Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, which is hosting the men's edition of Big Tens for the first time since 2018. Swimming prelims begin at 11 a.m. ET and diving prelims at 1 p.m. Finals sessions begin at 6 p.m. ET with the diving consolation final. The meet opens Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET with a pair of relays plus the exhibition team diving event.
Seniors Brady Samuels, Jordan Rzepka and Sam Bennett all represented Purdue at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis two years ago. Samuels earned honorable mention All-America accolades in the 100 backstroke. Four weeks ago, the Boilermakers took their full travel roster to the Twin Cities for the annual two-day Big Ten Triple Duals the weekend of Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
At the Toyota U.S. Open in December, Samuels eclipsed his own team record in the 100 butterfly and improved on his second-fastest time in team history in the 50 freestyle. He won gold in both events and completed a golden trifecta with a victory in the 100 free. Blake Rowe eclipsed the Purdue freshman record at the same meet after he had initially reset the first-year mark at the Purdue Invitational two weeks earlier. Also at the Purdue Invite, Rzepka became just the fourth Boilermaker ever to post a 500-point list in platform diving. A few weeks later, he rallied to win silver in the event at the USA Diving Winter Nationals.
TOP 5 TIMES/SCORES IN TEAM HISTORY POSTED THIS SEASON
• Brady Samuels – 45.27 in 100 Fly (Team Record)
• Brady Samuels – 19.33 in 50 Free (2nd)
• Brady Samuels – 1:33.74 in 200 Free (2nd)
• Pat Broderick – 9:05.95 in 1000 Free (3rd)
• Jordan Rzepka – 502.50 in Platform Diving (4th)
• Blake Rowe – 1:42.38 in 200 Back (4th, Freshman Record)
• Max Miller – 429.75 in 1-Meter Diving (5th)
• Jordan Rzepka – 456.53 in 3-Meter Diving (5th)
• Evan Mackesy – 9:10.66 in 1000 Free (5th)
Among active Boilers, Rzepka and Samuels are the team's most accomplished performers at Big Tens. Rzepka is a four-time medalist, winning a pair (on 3-meter and platform) in both 2022 and 2024. He's a perfect 9-for-9 in top-10 finishes during his career. Samuels won a pair of relay medals as a freshman and is a six-time A finalist individually at Big Tens. Both have scored in all three of their individual events all three years, accounting for a combined 419 team points in the process.
Classmate Idris Muhammad also scored in all three of his individual events at Big Tens last season and has an opportunity to join Rzepka and Samuels as four-year scorers this week.
Rzepka and Samuels also represent Purdue's top candidates to become the program's first Big Ten champion since Brandon Loschiavo (platform diving) in 2021. However, the Boilers enjoyed a seven-year streak with at least one Big Ten champion from 2015 to 2021. Those titles were in platform diving (four), 200 breaststroke (three) and 3-meter diving (two).
Steele Johnson (3-meter) and Loschiavo (platform) both won Big Ten titles the last time Minnesota hosted in 2018. In fact, Purdue has had at least one Big Ten champion each of the last five times the championships have been held in Minneapolis dating back to 1998. Head diving coach David Boudia also swept the springboard events and won silver on the tower in his final collegiate meet as the Gophers hosted the 2011 NCAA Championships. Johnson won an NCAA title on 3-meter in Minneapolis in 2018; it also proved to be his final collegiate meet after an injury kept Johnson from competing in NCAA meets during the 2018-19 school year.
ACTIVE BOILERS TO WIN MEDALS AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Jordan Rzepka – Silver on Platform, Bronze on 3-Meter in 2024; Silver on 3-Meter & Platform in 2022
• Brady Samuels – Bronze in 200 & 400 Free Relays in 2022
NOTABLE LIFETIME BESTS TO MOVE UP/JOIN PURDUE RECORD BOOK AT 2024 BIG TENS
(Current All-Time Rank in Team History)
• Dylan Burau – 1:41.53 in 200 Back (1st)
• 400 Medley Relay – 3:06.94 (3rd)
…Samuels, Witty, King, Muhammad
• 200 Medley Relay – 1:24.07 (3rd)
…Samuels, Witty, King, Muhammad
• 800 Free Relay – 6:25.31 (4th)
…Shaw, McCarthy, Frollo, Kelly
• 400 Free Relay – 2:53.18 (5th)
…McCarthy, Samuels, Muhammad, Thomas
• Dylan Burau – 47.06 in 100 Back (6th)
• 200 Free Relay – 1:17.80 (T-6th)
…Samuels, Muhammad, Thomas, McCarthy
• Pat Broderick – 15:16.70 in 1650 Free (7th)
• Maxwell Blume – 1:56.93 in 200 Breast (8th)
• Maxwell Blume – 53.53 in 100 Breast (10th)
• Raymond Whittaker – 1:58.20 in 200 Breast (10th)
• Nathaniel Thomas –19.74 in 50 Free (11th)
• Connor McCarthy – 43.56 in 100 Free (12th)
• Connor McCarthy – 1:36.66 in 200 Free (T-13th)
• Raymond Whittaker – 53.95 in 100 Breast (15th)
• Mason Kajfosz – 1:47.82 in 200 IM (NA)
PURDUE'S ACTIVE SWIMMERS TO RACE ON RELAYS AT BIG TENS LAST SEASON
• Brady Samuels – 200 & 400 Free, 200 & 400 Medley
• Idris Muhammad – 200 & 400 Free, 200 & 400 Medley
• Connor McCarthy – 200, 400 & 800 Free
• Nathaniel Thomas – 200 Free & 400 Free
• Andy Kelly – 800 Free
YEAR 10 OF THE CURRENT SCORING BREAKDOWN
• A Final: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22
• B Final: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11
• C Final: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (and 17th through 24th in Diving Prelims)
• Relays: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40
PURDUE'S MOST RECENT BIG TEN CHAMPIONS
• Diving: Brandon Loschiavo – Platform, 2021
• Swimming: Marat Amaltdinov – 200 Breast, 2017
• Relay: 400 Medley (Sutherland, Kovacs, Brown, Ullom), 1997
PURDUE MEDALISTS AT BIG TENS WHEN MINNESOTA HAS HOSTED (Since 1992)
2018
• Steele Johnson – Gold on 3-Meter, Bronze on 1-Meter
• Brandon Loschiavo – Gold on 10-Meter
• Joe Young – Bronze in 100 Back
2011
• David Boudia – Gold on 1-Meter, 3-Meter, 10-Meter
• J.P. Perez – Bronze on 3-Meter
2005
• Louis Paul – Gold in 200 IM, Bronze in 200 Back
• Giordan Pogioli – Bronze in 200 Breast
• Steven LoBue – Bronze on Platform
2001
• Tamas Bessenyei – Gold in 100 Breast
• 200 Medley Relay Team – Bronze
…Rodela, Bessenyei, Sayce & Duncan
1998
• Vilmos Kovacs – Gold in 200 Breast
• Ross Croasdell – Silver in 200 Free
• 200 Free Relay Team – Silver
…Smardo, Weis, Larsen, Ullom
• 400 Free Relay Team – Bronze
…Croasdell, Larsen, Cornehl, Ullom
1995
• Matt Brown – Silver in 200 IM
1994
• John Klinge – Bronze in 200 Back
1992
• Brian Daly – Gold in 200 Back, Silver in 100 Back
Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving at the Big Ten Championships
Wednesday, Feb. 26 to Saturday, March 1 / All Sessions Streaming on B1G+
Opening Night Relays & Team Diving at 6 p.m. ET
Swimming Prelims at 11 a.m. Prelims / Diving Prelims at 1 p.m. / 6 p.m. Finals Sessions
Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center / Minneapolis, Minn.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving makes its second trip to the Twin Cities in just under a month, this time joining the rest of the league in the heart of the Upper Midwest for the Big Ten Championships.
Action is set for Wednesday evening through Saturday at Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, which is hosting the men's edition of Big Tens for the first time since 2018. Swimming prelims begin at 11 a.m. ET and diving prelims at 1 p.m. Finals sessions begin at 6 p.m. ET with the diving consolation final. The meet opens Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET with a pair of relays plus the exhibition team diving event.
| EVENT SCHEDULE AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS – 7-SESSION FORMAT | |||
| Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 200 Medley Relay Team Diving (Exhibition) 800 Free Relay |
500 Free 200 IM 50 Free 1-Meter Diving 200 Free Relay |
100 Fly 400 IM 200 Free 100 Breast 100 Back 3-Meter Diving 400 Medley Relay |
1650 Free 200 Back 100 Free 200 Breast 200 Fly Platform Diving 400 Free Relay |
| Diving Prelims Begin Daily at 1 p.m. ET | 1,650 Free & Relays are Finals Only Diving Consolation Finals are First Event of Finals Sessions First Heat of 1,650 Free at approx. 4:30 p.m. ET | Saturday Finals Open with Fastest Heat of 1,650 Free |
|||
Seniors Brady Samuels, Jordan Rzepka and Sam Bennett all represented Purdue at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis two years ago. Samuels earned honorable mention All-America accolades in the 100 backstroke. Four weeks ago, the Boilermakers took their full travel roster to the Twin Cities for the annual two-day Big Ten Triple Duals the weekend of Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
At the Toyota U.S. Open in December, Samuels eclipsed his own team record in the 100 butterfly and improved on his second-fastest time in team history in the 50 freestyle. He won gold in both events and completed a golden trifecta with a victory in the 100 free. Blake Rowe eclipsed the Purdue freshman record at the same meet after he had initially reset the first-year mark at the Purdue Invitational two weeks earlier. Also at the Purdue Invite, Rzepka became just the fourth Boilermaker ever to post a 500-point list in platform diving. A few weeks later, he rallied to win silver in the event at the USA Diving Winter Nationals.
TOP 5 TIMES/SCORES IN TEAM HISTORY POSTED THIS SEASON
• Brady Samuels – 45.27 in 100 Fly (Team Record)
• Brady Samuels – 19.33 in 50 Free (2nd)
• Brady Samuels – 1:33.74 in 200 Free (2nd)
• Pat Broderick – 9:05.95 in 1000 Free (3rd)
• Jordan Rzepka – 502.50 in Platform Diving (4th)
• Blake Rowe – 1:42.38 in 200 Back (4th, Freshman Record)
• Max Miller – 429.75 in 1-Meter Diving (5th)
• Jordan Rzepka – 456.53 in 3-Meter Diving (5th)
• Evan Mackesy – 9:10.66 in 1000 Free (5th)
Among active Boilers, Rzepka and Samuels are the team's most accomplished performers at Big Tens. Rzepka is a four-time medalist, winning a pair (on 3-meter and platform) in both 2022 and 2024. He's a perfect 9-for-9 in top-10 finishes during his career. Samuels won a pair of relay medals as a freshman and is a six-time A finalist individually at Big Tens. Both have scored in all three of their individual events all three years, accounting for a combined 419 team points in the process.
Classmate Idris Muhammad also scored in all three of his individual events at Big Tens last season and has an opportunity to join Rzepka and Samuels as four-year scorers this week.
Rzepka and Samuels also represent Purdue's top candidates to become the program's first Big Ten champion since Brandon Loschiavo (platform diving) in 2021. However, the Boilers enjoyed a seven-year streak with at least one Big Ten champion from 2015 to 2021. Those titles were in platform diving (four), 200 breaststroke (three) and 3-meter diving (two).
Steele Johnson (3-meter) and Loschiavo (platform) both won Big Ten titles the last time Minnesota hosted in 2018. In fact, Purdue has had at least one Big Ten champion each of the last five times the championships have been held in Minneapolis dating back to 1998. Head diving coach David Boudia also swept the springboard events and won silver on the tower in his final collegiate meet as the Gophers hosted the 2011 NCAA Championships. Johnson won an NCAA title on 3-meter in Minneapolis in 2018; it also proved to be his final collegiate meet after an injury kept Johnson from competing in NCAA meets during the 2018-19 school year.
ACTIVE BOILERS TO WIN MEDALS AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Jordan Rzepka – Silver on Platform, Bronze on 3-Meter in 2024; Silver on 3-Meter & Platform in 2022
• Brady Samuels – Bronze in 200 & 400 Free Relays in 2022
| ACTIVE CAREER SCORING LEADERS AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||||
| Boilermaker | Career Points | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| Jordan Rzepka | 228 | 81 | 71 | 76 |
| Brady Samuels | 191 | 65 | 67 | 59 |
| Sam Bennett^ | 62 | DNC | 47 | 15 |
| Idris Muhammad | 56 | 22 | 30 | 4 |
| Holden Higbie^ | 40 | 40 | NA | NA |
| Dylan Burau^ | 28.5 | 27 | 1.5 | NA |
| Connor McCarthy | 18.5 | 14.5 | 4 | -- |
| Max Miller | 17 | 17 | NA | NA |
| Pat Broderick | 13 | 13 | NA | NA |
| Nathaniel Thomas | 7 | 7 | NA | NA |
| Raymond Whittaker | 3 | 3 | -- | NA |
| ^ -- Will not compete at Big Tens this week due to injury | ||||
NOTABLE LIFETIME BESTS TO MOVE UP/JOIN PURDUE RECORD BOOK AT 2024 BIG TENS
(Current All-Time Rank in Team History)
• Dylan Burau – 1:41.53 in 200 Back (1st)
• 400 Medley Relay – 3:06.94 (3rd)
…Samuels, Witty, King, Muhammad
• 200 Medley Relay – 1:24.07 (3rd)
…Samuels, Witty, King, Muhammad
• 800 Free Relay – 6:25.31 (4th)
…Shaw, McCarthy, Frollo, Kelly
• 400 Free Relay – 2:53.18 (5th)
…McCarthy, Samuels, Muhammad, Thomas
• Dylan Burau – 47.06 in 100 Back (6th)
• 200 Free Relay – 1:17.80 (T-6th)
…Samuels, Muhammad, Thomas, McCarthy
• Pat Broderick – 15:16.70 in 1650 Free (7th)
• Maxwell Blume – 1:56.93 in 200 Breast (8th)
• Maxwell Blume – 53.53 in 100 Breast (10th)
• Raymond Whittaker – 1:58.20 in 200 Breast (10th)
• Nathaniel Thomas –19.74 in 50 Free (11th)
• Connor McCarthy – 43.56 in 100 Free (12th)
• Connor McCarthy – 1:36.66 in 200 Free (T-13th)
• Raymond Whittaker – 53.95 in 100 Breast (15th)
• Mason Kajfosz – 1:47.82 in 200 IM (NA)
PURDUE'S ACTIVE SWIMMERS TO RACE ON RELAYS AT BIG TENS LAST SEASON
• Brady Samuels – 200 & 400 Free, 200 & 400 Medley
• Idris Muhammad – 200 & 400 Free, 200 & 400 Medley
• Connor McCarthy – 200, 400 & 800 Free
• Nathaniel Thomas – 200 Free & 400 Free
• Andy Kelly – 800 Free
YEAR 10 OF THE CURRENT SCORING BREAKDOWN
• A Final: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22
• B Final: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11
• C Final: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (and 17th through 24th in Diving Prelims)
• Relays: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40
PURDUE'S MOST RECENT BIG TEN CHAMPIONS
• Diving: Brandon Loschiavo – Platform, 2021
• Swimming: Marat Amaltdinov – 200 Breast, 2017
• Relay: 400 Medley (Sutherland, Kovacs, Brown, Ullom), 1997
PURDUE MEDALISTS AT BIG TENS WHEN MINNESOTA HAS HOSTED (Since 1992)
2018
• Steele Johnson – Gold on 3-Meter, Bronze on 1-Meter
• Brandon Loschiavo – Gold on 10-Meter
• Joe Young – Bronze in 100 Back
2011
• David Boudia – Gold on 1-Meter, 3-Meter, 10-Meter
• J.P. Perez – Bronze on 3-Meter
2005
• Louis Paul – Gold in 200 IM, Bronze in 200 Back
• Giordan Pogioli – Bronze in 200 Breast
• Steven LoBue – Bronze on Platform
2001
• Tamas Bessenyei – Gold in 100 Breast
• 200 Medley Relay Team – Bronze
…Rodela, Bessenyei, Sayce & Duncan
1998
• Vilmos Kovacs – Gold in 200 Breast
• Ross Croasdell – Silver in 200 Free
• 200 Free Relay Team – Silver
…Smardo, Weis, Larsen, Ullom
• 400 Free Relay Team – Bronze
…Croasdell, Larsen, Cornehl, Ullom
1995
• Matt Brown – Silver in 200 IM
1994
• John Klinge – Bronze in 200 Back
1992
• Brian Daly – Gold in 200 Back, Silver in 100 Back