The Purdue men’s swimming & diving teams have put together a spectacular class coming in for the fall of 2013. So good, that one former Purdue swimmer described it, along with the one that came in for the 2010-2011 season (including All-American sprinters Danny Tucker and Matt Friede), to be one of the best in program history.
There’s no obvious spot to begin with this class with a lot of really talented signees; though only four of the nine swimmers come from in the state of Indiana, they largely hit the whole Midwestern region fairly well.
That includes Josh Ehrman from Michigan, who was a part of the National Record breaking 200 medley relays at Saline High School. We reported on his commitment in the fall, but as an update to his times, his current bests are: 100 Breast (55.30), 200 Breast (2:02.70), and 200 IM (1:47.80). That 200 IM really made a big improvement, as he knocked almost two seconds off as a senior (he’s the Michigan State Record holder.) He joins a very good group at Purdue and will train alongside junior Lyam Dias, who is both their best breaststroker and IM’er.
He’ll be joined by one of those in-state recruits Matt Quinlan (from Michigan City, which is actually in Indiana), who has been 57.0 in the 100 breast and 1:55.7 in the 200 IM. Josh Brooks from Centerville, Ohio gives them a second State Champion in the 200 IM; he’s been 1:49.50 in the 200 yard IM, and generally speaking is a mid-distance, 200-500 type of swimmer.
Colin Mothershead with a 56.81 in the 100 yard breaststroke out of Avon, Indiana; and James Nguyen from Boise, Idaho with a 57.0 in the 100 yard breaststroke, gives them another pair of breaststrokers. That group was badly in need of some added depth, as they only had two guys last year faster than 57 in the 100, and just one (Dias) faster than 2:02 in the 200.
The furthest-travelling signee is Filip Bujoczek from Poland. He’ll be 19 when he comes to campus, and could be a future star in his native country. His long course bests are 51.5 in the 100 free, 1:50.6 in the 200 free, 3:56. in the 400 free, and 8:15.8 in the 800 free. His short course meters times are equally as good, and in yards his best swims convert to a 1:36 in the 200 and 4:18 in the 500 yard freestyles. He could be a freshman qualifier for the NCAA Championships in 2014 individually, and also make huge contributions to the Purdue sprint relays that graduates about half of their top sprinters.
Another very impressive sprinter in the class is Austin Flager, a former Indiana HS Champion in the 50 free. His yards bests are 20.3 in the 50 and 44.9 in the 100 freestyle, to which he adds 49’s in both the 100 fly and the 100 back. When looking at returning swimmers, that puts him 3rd on Purdue’s roster behind only Tucker and Friede in both sprint freestyles.
And finally, to complete a very well-rounded class, Purdue added two good backstrokers. Alex Toetz from Fort Wayne (49.80/1:49.60) and Ted Curtiss from Tennessee (50.76/1:53.82). Toetz might be the hidden gem of this class, with strong family ties to the school; he dropped almost two seconds in both his 100 and 200 yard backstrokes as a senior to greatly raise his recruiting value.
Only one thing can land recruits like this– great coaches and teammates. Purdue is obviously creating an environment in which student-athletes feel comfortable and confident in the road to success Purdue offers.
Wow! I knew Michigan’s NCAA championship win would pay dividends in general for most the Big 10 teams across the board, but this Purdue class is better than I had imagined. Red hot!! They may start challenging for that elusive 3rd place spot at B1G champs soon.
Typical PAC 12 snob comment.
???, huh? There was no sarcasm in my comment. I’m a big 10 guy also! Purdue is on the way up!!
Sorry. I apologize. i thought the ‘elusive 3rd place’ was sarcasm. I agree Purdue is on the way up.
Looks like Purdue is making some big steps at contending now for championships.. I still dont see what Iowa, Michigan St are doing.
This is a solid class but don’t see how this puts them in a position to contend for a championship. A couple guys around 50. And 1:50 in the back and :56/:57 in the breast aren’t going to make an impact at the Big10 meet unless they develop a lot over the next few years.