The no. 19 Purdue Boilermakers Men’s Swimming and Diving team had to fight through a torrential winter snow storm to get to Bloomington to face the no. 25 Indiana Hoosiers. The trip ended up being well worth it, as Purdue knocked off their in-state rival 176-124, for their first win in Bloomington since 1998.
According to Purdue coach Dan Ross’ Twitter feed, It took the Boilermakers 3 and a half hours in the snow to make what is typically a 2 hour drive down to Bloomington.
Although event wins were evenly split between the two teams (each team won 6 individual events and 1 relay), Purdue pulled away big time thanks to their depth, and outstanding performances from their divers. The Boilermaker divers scored 31 out of a possible 32 points, led by reigning NCAA Diver of the Year David Boudia. The diving was completed 2 weeks ago, as most of the team’s top divers are away at qualifying for the United States Diving World Cup team. Boudia has already qualified thanks to a third place finish in the 3-meter, and had a strong lead on platform heading into the finals. Fellow Boilermaker All-American David Colturi was 7th on the platform headed into finals.
Titus Knight was the star for Indiana, winning 3 individual events and anchoring the Hoosiers’ 400 free relay to a victory. His 200 free time of 1:38.05 gave him a 2-second win over his next closest competitor, Purdue’s AJ Boeh. Knight also won the 100 freestyle (44.71) and the 500 freestyle (4:29.36). As the second leg of the Hoosier relay, Knight went a very speedy 43.89 to really bust the race open for the Hoosiers.
Purdue’s Aaron Koger, who is one of the conference’s top breaststrokes, took the breaststroke double, including lowering his season best in the 100 to 54.87. Headed into the weekend, Koger had the Big Ten’s third best time in both events.
