Live Results / Live Diving Scores / Live Video 1 / Live Video 2 / Meet Central
MEET INFORMATION
Purdue Men at the NCAA Championships
Wednesday to Saturday, March 22 to 25 / 10 a.m. ET Prelims, 6 p.m. ET Finals / ESPN3
IU Natatorium at IUPUI / Indianapolis, Indiana
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Five Boilermakers earned the opportunity to represent Purdue men's swimming & diving in a combined five events this week at the premier collegiate showcase in the country, the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis.
The meet begins Wednesday evening with the 800 freestyle relay and continues through Saturday night at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI. The individual events begin with the Thursday's prelims. The Boilermakers are slated to have at least three student-athletes compete each day, including four Saturday. Swimming prelims begin daily at 10 a.m. ET, diving trials get underway during the noon hour and finals sessions start at 6 p.m.
ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app will provide live video coverage of the Friday and Saturday night finals sessions. IUPUIjags.com is offering free webcasts of the remaining sessions. ESPNU will televise highlights of the ESPN3 coverage April 5 (5 p.m.), 6 (8 a.m.) and 7 (noon).
Purdue will be represented by Marat Amaltdinov, Joe Cifelli, Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo and Max Showalter. Amaltdinov qualified for NCAAs for the third year in a row, but declined his bid last year in order to train for the Russian Olympic Trials. Johnson won 1-meter and platform NCAA titles as a freshman in 2015, but did not compete collegiately last year while exercising an Olympic practice waiver. He not only qualified for the Olympics in both 10-meter events, but also won silver with Purdue alumnus David Boudia in the synchronized event. Cifelli and Showalter qualified for NCAAs for the second year in a row. Loschiavo made it in all three diving events as a freshman.
Purdue has had at least one men's diver earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in 11 of the last 12 years. The Boilermakers will be represented in all three diving events this week after having at least four divers qualify for the fourth time (2010, 2014, 2015).
All five Boilermakers competed at the IU Natatorium earlier this season. Johnson and Cifelli finished 1-2 in both springboard events at IUPUI's House of Champions Invitational in November. Amaltdinov was the Big Ten team's top finisher in the 200 breast at the USA College Challenge a couple weeks earlier. This past summer, Johnson, Cifelli and Showalter all competed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials held in Downtown Indianapolis. As a Carmel native, Johnson has been competing at the facility for much of his career, winning multiple USA Diving national titles there.
The Indiana Sports Corporation, IUPUI and the IU Natatorium also hosted the Women's NCAA Championships last week, with four Boilermakers earning All-America honors en route to the Purdue women finishing in 23rd place. Both meets were also hosted by the same aquatic center in 2013 (IUPUI) and 2016 (Georgia Tech). The 2018 Men's NCAA Championships are set to be held at Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
Amaltdinov is seeded seventh in the 200 breast via his conference title-winning time (1:52.89) in the event at the Big Ten Championships. Johnson was the Big Ten champion on the platforms and also established a new program record on 1-meter. Finishing among the top 16 in the prelims is what assures an athlete of All-America honors. The top eight compete for the national title in the championship final. Ninth to 16th place in the prelims advance to the consolation final and earn honorable mention All-America accolades. Cifelli (3-meter) and Showalter (platform) were both honorable mention All-Americans last season. Johnson also won the consolation final on 3-meter two years ago to be an All-American in all three diving events. The Boilermakers have finished in the top 25 at NCAAs 10 times since 2004.
Amaltdinov will be aiming to becoming the Purdue men's first full-fledged swimming All-American, via a top-eight finish at NCAAs, since Giordan Pogioli (200 breast) in 2006.
PURDUE ENTRIES & SCHEDULE AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Marat Amaltdinov -- 100, 200 Breaststroke
Joe Cifelli -- 1-Meter Diving
Steele Johnson -- 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform Diving
Brandon Loschiavo -- 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform Diving
Max Showalter -- Platform Diving
Thursday, March 16 -- 10 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 12:15 p.m. Diving Prelims // 6 p.m. Finals
1-Meter Diving -- Joe Cifelli, Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo
Friday, March 17 -- 10 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 12:15 p.m. Diving Prelims // 6 p.m. Finals
100 Breast -- Marat Amaltdinov
3-Meter Diving -- Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo
Saturday, March 19 -- 10 a.m. Swimming Prelims, Noon Diving Prelims // 6 p.m. Finals
200 Breast -- Marat Amaltdinov
Platform Diving -- Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo, Max Showalter