Purdue vs. Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, February 6. THE 18th-ranked Purdue men’s swimming and diving team defeated 25th-ranked Indiana 176-124 Saturday afternoon inside the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind.

“This is a great win against our rival,” head coach Dan Ross said. “I was a little concerned last night after it took us three-and-a-half hours to get here and we missed our evening swim. It showed in some of our races, but these seniors and this team were not going to be denied. I am very proud of this group.”

Purdue entered Saturday with a 31-7 lead thanks to the diving competition held two weeks ago. The Boilermakers wasted no time building on that lead as they took first and second place in the 200-yard medley relay. Chuck Destro, Aaron Koger, Kyle House and Ben Wachtel won the event in a season-best time of 1 minute, 30.51 seconds, and Chris Pfaff, Albert Miller, Jimmy Brooks and Gage Barry touched the wall next in 1:31.26.

Purdue also claimed the first two finishing positions in the 1,000 freestyle, which was the first individual race of the day. Freshman Vinny Donnelly beat the field with a season-best time of 9:21.23, and junior Matt Stewart was second in 9:23.07. Senior A.J. Boeh just missed a season-best clocking as he finished second in the 200 freestyle in 1:40.38. Barry did get a season-best time with his third-place, 1:41.13 finish, and freshman Alec LaMothe added another by placing fourth in 1:41.64.

Senior Sam Wilcher won his fourth 200 butterfly race this season by posting a season-best time of 1:47.78. Sophomore Brendan Joyce and junior Ryan Dafforn also recorded season-best clockings while finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the event. Joyce touched the wall in 1:50.84 and was followed by Dafforn in 1:51.57.

Wilcher completed his sweep of the butterfly events by winning the 100 in a season-best time of 48.82. Joyce earned another season-best time as he finished second in 48.87. Brooks was third in 49.95, and House completed a Boilermaker sweep of the top four places with his season-best time of 50.02.

Koger led three Purdue finishers in the top four places of the 200 breaststroke as he won the event in 2:01.38. Miller placed second when he touched the wall in a season-best time of 2:04.85, and sophomore Wyatt Hodges was fourth with his 2:06.27 clocking. Stewart recorded a victory in the final individual event of the day when he won the 200 IM in a season-best time of 1:53.37.

Destro led the Boilermakers with his second-place finish in the 100 backstroke after touching the wall in 50.79, just five-hundredths of a second behind his season-best mark in that event. Sophomore Tyler Gertz added points by finishing the race fourth in 51.65.

Wachtel finished the 50 freestyle in 20.78 to place second while three other Boilermakers clocked season-best times behind him. Destro finished fourth in 20.87, House was fifth in 21.28 and Brooks touched the wall seventh in 21.43. Wachtel also led the team in the 100 freestyle with his third-place, 46.14 finish. Boeh scored in fourth with his 46.55 clocking, and LaMothe lowered his season-best time by more than one second when he finished sixth in 46.78.

Gertz and senior Andre Koop finished the 200 backstroke one-hundredth of a second apart as Gertz took second in 1:51.74 and was followed immediately by Koop in 1:51.75. Stewart led a pack of Boilermakers in the 500 freestyle field with his second-place finish in 4:30.80. Wolfred and Donnelly added another close finish by placing third and fourth, respectively, in 4:34.22 and 4:34.26. Boeh, Wachtel, Barry and Destro wrapped up the meet with a second-place finish in a season-best time of 3:03.04 in the 400 freestyle relay.

Purdue earned its first win in Bloomington since 1998 and concluded its regular season with an 8-1 record in dual meets. The Boilermakers became just the second team in program history to lose only one dual meet, tying the 1997-98 team that was 12-1. The eight wins are the most since the 2004-05 squad went 10-2.

Purdue now turns its focus to the Big Ten Championships, scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Columbus, Ohio.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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