Big Ten Weekly Preview: Purdue Hosts Notre Dame in Rivalry

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Photo Courtesy: Andy Jessop/Purdue Athletics

By Dan D’Addona.

Most of the Big Ten schools are in action this week in the pool as the season moves into its heavier dual meet season, but most of the action is non-conference action this week.

That will bring about a showdown in one of the best rivalries, Purdue vs. Notre Dame.

The battle of the Indiana powers takes place on Friday night in West Lafayette.

The Boilermakers have started the season strong and it is thanks to the distance dominance and diving.

Steele Johnson has been unbeatable on the boards, which isn’t a surprise.

Last week against South Carolina, Kaersten Meitz swept the 200, 500 and 1,000 free, winning the 1,000 and 200 in back-to-back events.

Meitz’s 1,000 free time of 9:43.68 also stands as the best in the nation so far this season.

Marat Amaltdinov and Meitz both posted a pair of NCAA provisional-qualifying times (B Cuts). Amaltdinov out dueled fellow All-American Nils Wich-Glasen in both breaststroke events. Amaltdinov was victorious in the 200 breast by more than two seconds while posting the top time (1:57.01) in the nation so far this season.

On the other side of the rivalry, the Fighting Irish are a team loaded with freestyle depth, especially at the sprints, led by Tabahn Afrik. Notre Dame also has  extremely strong relays.

All of that adds up to an exciting rivalry meet, especially this early in the season.

Two conference meets are part of Friday’s action as Minnesota swims at Iowa and Northwestern and Rutgers swim at Illinois in a women’s meet.

Friday’s other meets are Indiana at Tennessee (along with Kentucky), Michigan State at James Madison, Kenyon at Ohio State and North Carolina State at Wisconsin.

On Saturday, NC State and Wisconsin finish up their two-day battle, while Michigan State swims at Kenyon, Illinois faces Southern Illinois and Illinois State. Meanwhile, Northwestern will host Rutgers, Chicago and Illinois-Chicago.

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