Jan. 27, 2001
MADISON, Wis. - The Purdue men's swim team came away from its double-dual meet against Wisconsin and Minnesota with one win and one loss after the second day of competition. The Boilermakers defeated the Badgers with a final score of 193-153, while Minnesota defeated the Boilermakers 235-117. Purdue's record moves to 6-3 (3-3 Big Ten).
"This was the first of three important Big Ten competition weekends for us," Purdue head swim coach Dan Ross said. "It was great for us to be able to beat Wisconsin at their home pool, it gives us a good confidence level to work at now for these next important competitions before Big Ten's."
Beginning the second day's events was the 200 freestyle relay. The Purdue team of junior Jon Duncan, seniors Dave Weis and Juan Rodela and sophomore Jeremy Wright finished with a time of 1:23.90 for third place and the Boilermakers' first points of the day.
In the 400 individual medley, senior Matt Martin gathered one of his first-place finishes on the day with a time of 4:00.74. Diaz also finished with a personal season-best time of 2:01.26 for second place. Junior Tom Drejer and freshman Nick Cenci finished eighth and ninth for the Boilermakers with times of 4:09.12 and 4:10.01.
Duncan finished in fourth place with a time of 46.42 in the 100 free, while Wright finished in 46.56 for fifth place. Weis came in ninth with a time of 47.52 and freshman Ian Lehman finished 12th with a time of 50.05.
Rodela was the top finisher for Purdue with a fifth-place finish and a time of 1:50.03 in the 200 backstroke. Senior Ian Caswell finished seventh with a time of 1:53.23, freshman Kyle Jackson finished eighth with a time of 1:54.29 and freshman Will Seelbach finished 10th with a time of 1:55.72.
Sophomore Tad Sayce added a third-place finish to his weekend with a time of 49.96 in the 100 butterfly. Senior teammate Matt Garrison followed in sixth-place with a time of 50.69 and junior Donovan Crowley was right behind at 51.45 for seventh place. Senior John Wakefield also finished ninth for Purdue in 52.65.
In the 500 free, Martin took home his second first-place finish of the day by finishing in 4:34.68. Drejer finished seventh with a time of 4:38.14, sophomore Ehud Dekter posted a time of 4:43.70 for 10th and freshman Garth Bringman finished 11th with a time of 4:44.54 in his first 500 free outing.
Boilermaker freshman Tamas Bessenyei finished the 200 breaststroke in 2:02.29 for third place. Sophomores Mike Miller and Gui Rego finished sixth and eighth with times of 2:04.73 and 2:06.26. Bringman also finished 10th for Purdue with a time of 2:15.39.
The final event of the day was the 400 freestyle relay. The Boilermakers finished a tight race in third place with Diaz, Wright, Weis and Duncan posting a time of 3:04.03. The team of Seelbach, Jackson, Rodela and Sayce finished fifth with a time of 3:08.83 and the team of Dekter, Caswell, Lehman and Cenci finished seventh with a time of 3:13.68.
For the second day in a row, the men's diving team had a tremendous showing. Junior Kevin Young posted a new career high score on the three-meter board with 247.8 points. Freshman John Haglund tallied a total of 240.65 points. The Boilermakers finished second and third against the Badgers and third and fifth against the Gophers.
The Old Gold and Black will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 3 for the final meet ever to be held in Lambert Pool. Purdue will take on in-state rival Indiana at 4 p.m. for the historical event.
"The team is really looking forward to this week," Ross said. "Hopefully, it'll be a lot of fun."
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