NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MEET INFORMATION
Purdue Men at the NCAA Championships
Thursday to Saturday, March 27-29 / ESPN+
Swimming Prelims at 1 p.m. ET / Diving Prelims at 3 p.m. ET
Diving Consolation Finals at 8:15 p.m. ET / Finals Sessions at 9 p.m. ET
Diving Championship Finals at approx. 10:15 p.m. ET
Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center / Federal Way, Wash.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Half a dozen Boilermakers earned the right to represent the university at the national championship meet as Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving will have at least four entries on all three days at the NCAA Championships this week in the Pacific Northwest.
Swimmer Brady Samuels and divers Max Miller, Jordan Rzepka, Kaden Springfield, Zach Welsh and Tyler Wills are all set to compete among the nation's best. Samuels is entered in the 100 butterfly as well as the 50 and 100 freestyle. Purdue also has multiple qualifiers in all three diving events, with all five set to compete on 3-meter Friday.
Rzepka is not only closing out his collegiate career as a four-year NCAAs qualifier (2022-25), but is also the first Boilermaker – male or female – to qualify for the national championship meet in all three diving events four years in a row. Samuels (2022, 2023, 2025) is back at NCAAs for the third year and is racing in individual events for the second time. As a sophomore, Miller qualified on both springboards for the second year in a row. Springfield, Welsh and Wills all made it as freshmen.
The top 16 finishers in the preliminaries clinch All-America honors and advance to finals. The top eight compete for the national championship in the evening finals. Diving is traditionally the final individual event of the finals sessions and begins in a window of approximately 10:15 to 10:30 p.m. ET. Consolation finals for diving remain at 8:15 p.m. as the first event of the evening sessions. Consolation finals for swimming events are contested immediately before their respective championship finals.
PURDUE SCHEDULE AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Thursday, March 27 – Brady Samuels in 50 Free; Max Miller, Jordan Rzepka & Zach Welsh on 1-Meter
• Friday, March 28 – Brady Samuels in 100 Fly; Max Miller, Jordan Rzepka, Kaden Springfield, Zach Welsh & Tyler Wills on 3-Meter
• Saturday, March 29 – Brady Samuels in 100 Free; Jordan Rzepka, Kaden Springfield, & Tyler Wills on Platform
March 27 Update: Samuels was entered in 100 fly plus 100 and 200 free (not the 50). The 200 free served as the backup in case he was not Top 30 nationally in the 100 fly (to officially qualify for NCAAs). Even though he had B Cuts in all 4 events, he was not part of the 50 free on Thursday because it wasn't among his original entries. He never intended to swim the 200 free because it falls on the same day as the 100 fly.
Rzepka is one 16 divers nationally this season to qualify for NCAAs in all three diving events – a list that also includes Welsh's twin brother Jacob (Texas). Rzepka is one of eight student-athletes to be on that list for (at least) the second year in a row. He'll look to become the first Boilermaker since Tyler Downs in 2022 to be an All-American in all three events, a feat Downs punctuated by winning the national title on the platform in his lone season competing collegiately.
Rzepka will be among the favorites on platform Saturday after winning the conference title (and prelim) on the tower at the Big Ten Championships and posting the top two-list total of any diver at his respective Zone qualifier earlier this month. Indiana's Carson Tyler is the defending national champion on 3-meter and platform and the Olympian remains a top contender in both events this weekend.
Rzepka (three-time), Samuels (two-time) and Miller (honorable mention on 1-meter in 2024) have all earned All-America honors as Boilermakers. On platform at NCAAs, Rzepka finished fourth last year and seventh as a freshman in 2022. He was also an honorable mention All-American on 1-meter (10th overall) in 2022. Samuels was an honorable mention All-American in the 100 backstroke in 2023 and with Purdue's 400 free relay team his freshman season. The Boilermakers have not had an All-American in a butterfly event since Sam Wilcher in 2010.
Purdue has finished among the top 25 in the team scoring at the NCAA Championships 15 times since 2005. The Boilermakers placed 13th in 2009, 2010 and 2017, winning multiple national titles in diving all three years. Purdue scored in all three diving events at NCAAs every year the meet was held from 2017 to 2022, and has an excellent opportunity to achieve that feat again this week.
The 2021 season marked the last time Purdue had individual All-Americans in both a swimming event and a diving event in the same year at NCAAs. In recent history, the Boilermakers also achieved the feat in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Samuels set team records in the 50 free (19.24) and 100 fly (45.10) this season. Rzepka is top five in team history on 3-meter (456.53) and platform (502.50), posting both career-best lists totals at the Purdue Invitational in November. Miller (1-meter and 3-meter), Springfield (3-meter and platform), Welsh (1-meter) and Wills (platform) all rank among the program's all-time leaderboards in at least one event.
The Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center is set for week two of hosting both the women's and men's NCAA Championships over the final two weekends of March. The facility previously hosted the men's NCAA Championships in 2008 and 2012. Purdue head diving coach David Boudia also qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in Federal Way when the Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center hosted diving's U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
This year also marks the first time since 2022 that the same facility is hosting both national championship meets – with Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta pulling double duty three years ago. Located near the southern shoreline of Puget Sound, the Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center is 20 miles northeast of Tacoma and 30 miles south of Seattle.
Purdue had four qualifiers – divers Daryn Wright, Sophie McAfee, Jenna Sonnenberg and Avery Worobel – for the women's NCAA Championships last week in the Pacific Northwest. Wright was a championship finalist and All-American on both 3-meter and platform. McAfee closed out her career as Purdue's first female diver to be an All-American on both a springboard and the platform three years in a row, joining Wright in platform championship final. Sonnenberg (platform) and Worobel (1-meter) earned honorable mention All-America accolades, teaming with McAfee and Wright to give the Purdue women an All-American in all three diving events for the first time since 2014.
Purdue Men at the NCAA Championships
Thursday to Saturday, March 27-29 / ESPN+
Swimming Prelims at 1 p.m. ET / Diving Prelims at 3 p.m. ET
Diving Consolation Finals at 8:15 p.m. ET / Finals Sessions at 9 p.m. ET
Diving Championship Finals at approx. 10:15 p.m. ET
Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center / Federal Way, Wash.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Half a dozen Boilermakers earned the right to represent the university at the national championship meet as Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving will have at least four entries on all three days at the NCAA Championships this week in the Pacific Northwest.
Swimmer Brady Samuels and divers Max Miller, Jordan Rzepka, Kaden Springfield, Zach Welsh and Tyler Wills are all set to compete among the nation's best. Samuels is entered in the 100 butterfly as well as the 50 and 100 freestyle. Purdue also has multiple qualifiers in all three diving events, with all five set to compete on 3-meter Friday.
Rzepka is not only closing out his collegiate career as a four-year NCAAs qualifier (2022-25), but is also the first Boilermaker – male or female – to qualify for the national championship meet in all three diving events four years in a row. Samuels (2022, 2023, 2025) is back at NCAAs for the third year and is racing in individual events for the second time. As a sophomore, Miller qualified on both springboards for the second year in a row. Springfield, Welsh and Wills all made it as freshmen.
The top 16 finishers in the preliminaries clinch All-America honors and advance to finals. The top eight compete for the national championship in the evening finals. Diving is traditionally the final individual event of the finals sessions and begins in a window of approximately 10:15 to 10:30 p.m. ET. Consolation finals for diving remain at 8:15 p.m. as the first event of the evening sessions. Consolation finals for swimming events are contested immediately before their respective championship finals.
PURDUE SCHEDULE AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Thursday, March 27 – Brady Samuels in 50 Free; Max Miller, Jordan Rzepka & Zach Welsh on 1-Meter
• Friday, March 28 – Brady Samuels in 100 Fly; Max Miller, Jordan Rzepka, Kaden Springfield, Zach Welsh & Tyler Wills on 3-Meter
• Saturday, March 29 – Brady Samuels in 100 Free; Jordan Rzepka, Kaden Springfield, & Tyler Wills on Platform
March 27 Update: Samuels was entered in 100 fly plus 100 and 200 free (not the 50). The 200 free served as the backup in case he was not Top 30 nationally in the 100 fly (to officially qualify for NCAAs). Even though he had B Cuts in all 4 events, he was not part of the 50 free on Thursday because it wasn't among his original entries. He never intended to swim the 200 free because it falls on the same day as the 100 fly.
Rzepka is one 16 divers nationally this season to qualify for NCAAs in all three diving events – a list that also includes Welsh's twin brother Jacob (Texas). Rzepka is one of eight student-athletes to be on that list for (at least) the second year in a row. He'll look to become the first Boilermaker since Tyler Downs in 2022 to be an All-American in all three events, a feat Downs punctuated by winning the national title on the platform in his lone season competing collegiately.
Rzepka will be among the favorites on platform Saturday after winning the conference title (and prelim) on the tower at the Big Ten Championships and posting the top two-list total of any diver at his respective Zone qualifier earlier this month. Indiana's Carson Tyler is the defending national champion on 3-meter and platform and the Olympian remains a top contender in both events this weekend.
| 2025 NCAAs QUALIFIERS IN ALL 3 DIVING EVENTS (16) | |
| • Cameron Cash, Pitt • Nathan Cox, Virginia Tech • Mario Del Valle Jr., Cal Baptist • Gage Dubois, Arizona • Maxwell Flory, Univ. of Miami • Jesus Gonzalez, Florida • Bennett Greene, Tennessee • Quinn Henninger, Indiana |
• Jacob Jones, Texas • Rocky Ramsland, Virginia Tech • Jordan Rzepka, Purdue • Nick Stone, Tennessee • Carson Tyler, Indiana • Aidan Wang, Princeton • Max Weinrich, Indiana • Jacob Welsh, Texas (Zach's Twin Brother) |
Rzepka (three-time), Samuels (two-time) and Miller (honorable mention on 1-meter in 2024) have all earned All-America honors as Boilermakers. On platform at NCAAs, Rzepka finished fourth last year and seventh as a freshman in 2022. He was also an honorable mention All-American on 1-meter (10th overall) in 2022. Samuels was an honorable mention All-American in the 100 backstroke in 2023 and with Purdue's 400 free relay team his freshman season. The Boilermakers have not had an All-American in a butterfly event since Sam Wilcher in 2010.
Purdue has finished among the top 25 in the team scoring at the NCAA Championships 15 times since 2005. The Boilermakers placed 13th in 2009, 2010 and 2017, winning multiple national titles in diving all three years. Purdue scored in all three diving events at NCAAs every year the meet was held from 2017 to 2022, and has an excellent opportunity to achieve that feat again this week.
The 2021 season marked the last time Purdue had individual All-Americans in both a swimming event and a diving event in the same year at NCAAs. In recent history, the Boilermakers also achieved the feat in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Samuels set team records in the 50 free (19.24) and 100 fly (45.10) this season. Rzepka is top five in team history on 3-meter (456.53) and platform (502.50), posting both career-best lists totals at the Purdue Invitational in November. Miller (1-meter and 3-meter), Springfield (3-meter and platform), Welsh (1-meter) and Wills (platform) all rank among the program's all-time leaderboards in at least one event.
The Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center is set for week two of hosting both the women's and men's NCAA Championships over the final two weekends of March. The facility previously hosted the men's NCAA Championships in 2008 and 2012. Purdue head diving coach David Boudia also qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in Federal Way when the Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center hosted diving's U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
This year also marks the first time since 2022 that the same facility is hosting both national championship meets – with Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta pulling double duty three years ago. Located near the southern shoreline of Puget Sound, the Weyerhaesuer King County Aquatic Center is 20 miles northeast of Tacoma and 30 miles south of Seattle.
Purdue had four qualifiers – divers Daryn Wright, Sophie McAfee, Jenna Sonnenberg and Avery Worobel – for the women's NCAA Championships last week in the Pacific Northwest. Wright was a championship finalist and All-American on both 3-meter and platform. McAfee closed out her career as Purdue's first female diver to be an All-American on both a springboard and the platform three years in a row, joining Wright in platform championship final. Sonnenberg (platform) and Worobel (1-meter) earned honorable mention All-America accolades, teaming with McAfee and Wright to give the Purdue women an All-American in all three diving events for the first time since 2014.