WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Purdue swimming and diving teams close out their dual meet schedules while competing together for the final time this season at the annual two-day Big Ten Triple Duals, hosted by Minnesota this year.
Action is set for 6 p.m. ET Friday and 1 p.m. ET Saturday at the University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. It will be the Purdue men's second trip to Minneapolis this year after also competing in the Arena/Minnesota Grand Prix the weekend of Nov. 20-22. Meanwhile, the Purdue women visit Minneapolis for the fourth year in a row after the Big Ten Quad was held there in 2012 and the Women's Big Ten Championships each of the last two seasons.
Northwestern has replaced Wisconsin in the Big Ten Triple Duals meet. Dating back to the mid-1990s, the Boilermakers had annually competed against Minnesota and Wisconsin (as well as the Illinois women some years) at the same pool in late January for the Big Ten Triple Duals/Quad meet. The hosting rotation would give each team a two-day home meet every third year. Wisconsin's fourth-year coaching staff opted for its teams to host a triple dual with Indiana and Notre Dame two weekends ago and remain idle since. The Badgers competed head-to-head with Minnesota back in mid-October.
Northwestern was a natural replacement for UW at the Big Ten Triple Duals. Purdue has annually competed head-to-head against the Wildcats in dual meet action, with that home-and-home series typically held in the fall over the last decade. Northwestern is scheduled to host the Big Ten Triple Duals next season in Evanston.
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Dating back to the 2007 Women's NCAA Championships, 10 program records and 11 freshman benchmarks have been established by Boilermakers at Minnesota's University Aquatic Center. Additionally, diver David Boudia won three Big Ten titles and two NCAA titles in Minneapolis in 2011. Diver Casey Matthews claimed the Purdue women's first Big Ten title since 2009 when she won on 1-meter at the conference championship meet last year.
Among active Boilers, Alex Todd and Kylie Vogel each eclipsed the program record in the 100 butterfly at Big Tens last year in Minneapolis. Todd finished the night as the record holder after Vogel initially broke it in the prelims. At the 2012 Big Ten Quad on Minnesota's campus, Guillermo Blanco bested Purdue's 400 IM freshman record that had stood since 1994 while winning the event. Filip Bujoczek (500 free), Hannah Manger (100 back) and Marat Amaltdinov (200 breast) also posted new freshman benchmarks at the University Aquatic Center since the start of last season.
The Big Ten Triple Duals has traditionally featured two heats per gender for every swimming event except the relays and 1000 freestyle. Each team can enter four scoring swimmers per event -- two for each heat. Teams are assigned lanes four and six, three and seven or two and five, and compete in those lanes throughout the two days of competition. The outer lanes have been open to non-scoring swimmers from any of the teams.
In the diving well, women's 3-meter and men's platform are set for Saturday. The genders will compete from the opposite boards Saturday. Both will be scored and 1-meter will not be contested this weekend.
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The Big Ten Triple Duals not only serves as an abbreviated version of the Big Ten Championships, featuring some quality competition over two days of events, but also fits the teams' schedules and budgets well. The Boilermakers have the opportunity to host the meet every third year, and when they do travel for the meet, it's a flight (Minneapolis) one year and a bus trip (previously Madison, now Evanston) the next. Northwestern replacing Wisconsin keeps that format in place.
Blanco won three individual events (200 free, 200 IM and 400 IM) at the 2014 Big Ten Triple Duals at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. Jamie Bissett swept the springboard diving events. Sean Mokhtari and MacKenzie Tweardy won from the platforms as well. Lyam Dias was victorious in the 200 breaststroke after finishing as the runner up in the 100.
As freshmen in 2012, Rhiannon Sheets won the 200 fly and Bissett was victorious in 1-meter diving at the Big Ten Quad in Minneapolis.
Upon returning from the two-day meet in Minneapolis this weekend, both Purdue teams will shift their focus solely to the Big Ten Championships. However, selected swimmers from both teams will compete prior to Big Tens. The women will head back to Columbus for the two-day Ohio State Winter Invite (Feb. 14-15) and the men will race at the Michigan First Chance meet (Fe. 21-22) for the third year in a row. Ohio State is hosting the Women's Big Ten Championships (Feb. 18-21) this year and Iowa was selected to host the Men's Big Ten Championships (Feb. 25-28) as well as the NCAA Championships in March.
2014-15 Dual Meet Records
Purdue Men: 4-1 (Wins vs. Miami Univ., Notre Dame, Western Kentucky & Michigan State; Loss vs. Indiana)
#16 Purdue Women: 4-2 (Wins vs. Miami Univ., Cincinnati, Notre Dame & Michigan State; Losses vs. Ohio State & Indiana)
#23 Minnesota Men: 4-3 (Wins vs. Arizona St., North Dakota, Iowa & Hawaii; Losses vs. Wisconsin, Florida & North Carolina St.)
#19 Minnesota Women: 5-1 (Wins vs. Arizona St., Wisconsin, North Dakota, Iowa, Florida & Hawaii; Loss vs. North Carolina State)
Northwestern Men: 7-4 (Wins vs. Eastern Michigan, Illinois-Chicago, Oakland, Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Notre Dame, Milwaukee; Losses vs. Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan & Iowa)
Northwestern Women: 7-4 (Wins vs. Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Oakland, Southern Illinois, Notre Dame, Milwaukee, Iowa; Losses vs. Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin & Michigan)
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