Purdue Men’s Swimming Rolls Over MSU in preparation for remainder of the Big Ten season

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue men’s swimming and diving team defeated Big Ten foe Michigan State today, 184.50-115.50 today at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, while setting eight Doris Z. Holloway Pool records. The win improves Purdue to 5-1 (2-0 Big Ten) on the year.

"I thought that today’s meet went well," said Purdue head men’s swim coach Dan Ross. "Overall, I am very pleased with the way things went against Michigan State. I thought that we maybe made a couple of tactical errors, but hopefully this win will set the tone for us for the rest of our big meets coming up soon. We raced well and I thought that, most importantly, the effort to win was there today."

Several Boilermakers set or were part of multiple pool records today, but the most incredible leader in the Purdue camp was, by far, senior Jon Duncan. Duncan set two individual pool records in the 100 backstroke with a time of 51:04 and the 100 freestyle in 45.72, while also swimming the lead-off leg on the final relay of the day in the 400 free relay.

Another Boilermaker who made a huge impact against the Spartans was Louis Paul, swimming in his first meet as a member of the team. Paul, who began at Purdue at the semester break, hails from Sydney, Austrailia, and broke two pool records in his first outting. Paul should make in incredible impact on the team with a time of 1:52.90 in the 200 individual medley and a 50.91 lead-off leg on the 400 medley relay.

Along with Paul, sophomore Tamas Besseneyei, junior Tad Sayce and senior Javier Diaz finished first in the 400 medley relay for the Holloway Pool record with a time of 3:20.10. The Boilermakers’ ‘B’ squad finished in 3:26.05 for second place.

Setting another pool record in the 1,000 free was freshman Rion Epping with a time of 9:21.26. Sophomore Garth Bringman followed in fourth place, while sophomores Nick Cenci and Ian Lehman were fifth and sixth.

In the 200 free, Michigan State’s Joe Brennan finished first to set a pool record in 1:41.04. Junior Ehud Dekter was the fastest Boilermaker with a time of 1:42.14, followed by Kyle Jackson in 1:42.46.

Following Duncan’s first-place finish in the 100 back for his pool record, freshman David Hughes was second with a time of 51.93 and freshman Eric Prugh was fourth in 54.55.

Junior Mike Miller finished with a great swim in the 100 breaststroke for first place and a time of 57.75, while Sayce,senior Donovan Crowley and sophomore Tony Ten Haagen were right behind for second through fourth places.

Bessenyei showed he is gearing up for another Big Ten championship, as he took a chance at the 200 fly and finished first in 1:53.72. Junior Jeremy Wright was the next-closest Boilermaker in fourth place.

Senior Ryan Sprengel finished second in the 50 free with a time of 21.49 and Paul finished tied for third in 21.62.

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In the 200 backstroke, Hughes set a pool record with his first-place finish in a time of 1:53.88, as Jackson finished close behind in 1:54.53.

Bessenyei continued his record-setting day with a Holloway Pool record in the200 breaststroke with a time of 2:00.94, finishing almost eight seconds ahead of his closest competitor and teammate, Diaz.

In the 500 free, Dekter finished as the Boilermakers’ top finisher in second, with a time of 4:37.54.

Crowley took away a first-place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 51.35, while Wright finished sixth in 52.40.

Finishing in third place, behind Paul’s pool record in the 200 IM was senior Tom Drejer with a time of 1:56.92 and in the final event of the day, the team of Duncan, Wright, Diaz and Sayce finished first with a pool record in the 400 free relay and a time of 3:03.20.

On the diving boards, the Boilermakers continue to make their climb to the elite of the Big Ten under the guidance of first-year head coach Wenbo Chen. Despite a couple of injuries, the Boilermakers finished in second, fourth and fifth on the 1-meter board and first, third and sixth on the 3-meter board. Senior Kevin Young finished fifth on the 1-meter and sixth on the 3-meter, sophomore transfer Eric Warrick finished fourth on the 1-meter and first on the 3-meter and freshman Clay Davis finished second on the 1-meter and third on the 3-meter board.

The Boilermakers will look to gather a couple more Big Ten wins as they travel to University Park, Pa. for a double-dual meet against Penn State and Michigan on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 18 and 19.

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