Four Pool Records Fall on Night One of Purdue Invitational

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold / Aringo Photos

The long anticipated college invitational season is finally here with the 2017 Purdue Invitational among the first meets to get underway.

Powerhouses like University of Florida, Indiana University and Virginia Tech are in attendance in West Lafayette this weekend which allows spectators to see elite performances from the likes of Caeleb Dressel and Lilly King. This meet scores down to 32 places, which gives swimmers the opportunity to make an A, B, C and D final.

Competition got started with the women’s 200 freestyle relay with Indiana University cruising to a victory with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:28.95. Florida International University secured second place with their 1:30.45 while University of Florida put together a 1:30.72 for third.

On the men’s side Dressel lead the Gators to a victory while throwing down the fastest time of the year with his 18.66 lead-off split, which betters the old pool record of 18.85, set by Michigan’s Paul Powers in 2016. UF’s final time was 1:16.67, which dipped under Indiana’s pool record from last year. Due to Indiana’s disqualification, Virginia Tech snuck into second with a 1:18.69 while Missouri State was able to secure third place.

Into the water next went the distance freestylers in the men’s and women’s 500. Indiana and Florida filled up the women’s A final, with four and three swimmers each, but it was Purdue’s Kaersten Meitz lighting up the pool with her 4:36.59, almost four seconds ahead of IU’s Kennedy Gross. Fellow Hoosier Cassy Jernberg took third with a 4:42.71. UF’s Hannah Burns won the B final with a 4:45.55 while Grace Kowal dropped six seconds from her prelim time to take the C final in a 4:46.65. FIU’s Kyna Pereira narrowly won the D final in 4:50.23 over UF’s Georgia Darwent‘s who swam a 4:50.53.

The Florida men placed seven out of eight men into the A final of the men’s 500 freestyle. Freshman Khader Baqlah posted the nation’s second fastest time with a 4:16.87. Behind Baqlah were fellow Gators Andrew Brady and Ben Lawless in 4:18.60 and 4:18.66, respectively. Florida continued their winning streak with Erge Gezmis swimming an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 4:24.28 to win the B final. The winner of the C final was another Florida Gator, Grady Heath, who posted a 4:25.58. Indiana’s Mohamed Samy earned his victory in the D final by putting up a 4:29.34.

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The IMers took their turn in the tank as Olympians King and Dressel put on a show for the rest of their respective A heats. King took the women’s race in 1:55.96, a time which leaves her within a second of the NCAA ‘A’ cut. VT’s Reka Gyorgy took second in 1:57.11 while IU’s Christina Jensen with her 1:57.97. Winning her second B final of the night, Burns posted a 2:00.18 to take the top spot in the second fastest heat while Florida’s Sydney Sell won the C final in 2:01.44. Virginia Tech’s Bailli Cameron took the D final in 2:03.09.

Dressel earned another few items on his long list of accolades as he swam to a 1:40.61, giving him a pool record by two and one half seconds, the top time in the nation so far this year and an NCAA ‘A’ cut. Teammate Jan Switkowski was also under the old pool record, held by Michigan’s Dylan Bosch, on his way to posting a 1:42.58 for second place. Third went to IU’s Vini Lanza in 1:43.15. Hoosier teammate Ian Finnerty won the B final in 1:45.55. Hokie Sam Tornqvist swam a 1:48.02 to win the C final while the D final went to Florida’s Brennan Balogh with a 1:48.06.

Next up was the 50 freestyle where we saw IU’s Grace Haskett post a 22.19 to win the A final. Second place went to Letiz Bertelli out of FIU while her teammate Namoi Ruele secured third place. Hoosier Shelby Koontz won the B final in 22.87, Florida’s Amelia Maughan won the C final in 23.23 and Missouri State’s Loren Stelnicki went a 23.50 to win the D final.

Dressel’s absence from the 50 freestyle final by virtue of swimming the event in exhibition, meaning he scores no points, opened the door for other swimmers from other schools to step up and secure a win. VT’s Ian Ho was able to do so by putting up a 19.64, followed by IU’s Bruno Blasovic in 19.76. Florida’s Scarpe Martinez earned third with his 19.77. Virginia Tech’s Harrison Pierce won the B final in 20.05. Florida’s Bailey Main took the C final in 20.40 while Missouri State’s Jake Schultz swam his way to first place in the D final with his 20.83.

The women had the 3-meter diving event today while the men competed in the 1-meter. The women’s victor was VT’s Ashlynn Peters with score of 305.65 while the men’s champion was Joseph Cifelli out of Purdue with 402.45.

King’s 58.67 breaststroke split on the 400 medley relay helped the lady Hoosiers win the event in a total time of 3:32.04. The Gators were second in 3:38.01 while Purdue was right behind in 3:38.30.

The men’s relay belonged to Indiana as well with their A relay going a 3:05.57 to dip under their own pool record of 3:05.61 from last year. The Hoosiers beat out Florida who posted a 3:07.42 (with Dressel splitting a swift 51.35 breaststroke leg). Missouri State was third in 3:12.21.

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