Nov. 23, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The men's swimming and diving team captured first place Sunday in completing the inaugural three-day 2003 Purdue Invitational. The Boilermakers received tremendous performances from both their swimmers and divers, finishing with an impressive 736 points.
Placing behind the Boilermakers were Big Ten rivals Northwestern (691.50) and Iowa (589.50), as well as Southern Illinois (556), Wyoming (405), Ohio State (302), Buffalo (196), and Wabash (22).
"This meet was a great learning experience for my team," said head coach Dan Ross. "The other teams really prepared hard for this meet, so my guys now know how it's going to be when we host Big Tens."
Leading off the day for Purdue was junior Louis Paul who set a new pool record in the 200 backstroke with a mark of 1:47.31 but was edged out by Northwestern's Tony Swanson who clocked a time of 1:46.68.
Senior Tamas Bessenyei and sophomore Giordan Pogioli both recorded impressive times in the 200 breaststroke. Bessenyei finished third with a time of 1:59.74 and right behind him to finish fourth was Pogioli with a time of 2:00.29. Sophomore Blake Scholz also added to the highlights with a fifth-place showing in the 200 butterfly (1:50.50).
For a third straight day, the Boilermaker diving crew came up big. Freshman Steve LoBue won the gold medal in the platform diving competition scoring a 469.45, and sophomore J.R. Hillis scored a silver with a score of 404.45.
"Overall, this was an excellent meet for us," said Ross. "This is a swimming and diving meet, and yes Northwestern outswam us in some areas, but our divers did a heck of a job off the boards. (Diving Coach) Wenbo (Chen) has been training our guys hard, and I expect they'll be better at Big Tens."
The 400 free relay team gave Purdue a strong finish, as Paul, junior Eric Prugh, junior Iggy Goh, and sophomore Andre Pereira grabbed second place with a time of 3:04.00.
The Purdue men's swimming and diving team returns to action on December 5 for a home dual meet against the Aggies Texas A&M at 6 p.m. Texas A&M is currently ranked 13th in the nation by the College Swim Coaches Association of America.