Boilermaker Men Swim Well For First Big Ten Win Of Season

Nov. 11, 2000

IOWA CITY, IOWA - The Purdue men's swim team won its first Big Ten meet of the year by defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes, 171-111. The Boilermakers move to 3-0, while the Hawkeyes fall to 0-2.

"This was a really, really good meet for us," Purdue head men's swim coach Dan Ross said. "I couldn't be happier about the way we performed. This was a great opportunity and experience for us to get a Big Ten meet, on the road, under our belts. I think this was an excellent meet for us to prepare for next weekend at the Texas A & M Invitational."

After returning two of their top swimmers this weekend, the Boilermakers swam well in several events. Highlighting the meet for Purdue was freshman Tamas Bessenyei's pool record-setting time of 1:59.57 in the 200 breaststroke. Sophomore Gui Rego finished in second with a time of 2:05.84. Bessenyei also finished first in the 100 breast with a time of 55.75, while sophomore teammate Michael Miller finished second with a time of 58.39.

In the 1000 freestyle, senior Matt Martin finished first with a new season record time of 9:19.03, beating the old record by 15.5 seconds after returning from a U.S. Swimming trip to Hawaii. Junior Tom Drejer finished second with a new personal season-best of 9:31.68.

Senior Juan Rodela continued to improve upon his season in the 100 backstroke with a first-place finish at 50.55, while senior John Wakefield finished third with a time of 51.78.

Junior Javier Daiz, also returning from a weekend off, turned a time of 1:40.02, a new season-best time by three seconds, for a second-place finish.

In one meter diving, junior Kevin Young finished second with 259.95, while freshman teammate John Haglund finished third with a total of 227.55.

The Boilermakers will return to action when they travel to College Station, Texas for the Texas A & M Invitational from Nov. 16-18. Teams included in the event include Auburn, Kentucky, Penn State, SMU, Stanford, and Texas A & M.

-P-