Live Results / Live Diving Scores / Meet Central / NCAA Championships History
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MEET INFORMATION
Purdue Men at the NCAA Championships
Wednesday to Saturday, March 21 to 24 / BTN2Go; ESPN3 and WatchESPN
Swimming Prelims at 11 a.m. ET, Diving Prelims at 1 p.m. ET, Finals at 7 p.m. ET
Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center / Minneapolis, Minnesota
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Four Boilermakers earned the opportunity to return to the Twin Cities where they will represent Purdue men's swimming & diving in a combined five events this week at the NCAA Championships.
The meet begins Wednesday evening with the 800 freestyle relay and continues through Saturday night at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, which also served as the host pool of the Big Ten Championships this year. David Boudia won NCAA titles in both springboard events and the Boilermakers had three student-athletes in the championship final of platform diving the last time Minnesota hosted the men's national championship meet in 2011.
The individual events begin with Thursday's prelims. Purdue's first event will be 1-meter diving Thursday afternoon. Swimming prelims begin daily at 11 a.m. ET, diving trials get underway during the 1 p.m. hour and finals sessions start at 7 p.m.
ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app will provide live video coverage of the Friday and Saturday night finals sessions. BTN2Go.com is offering free webcasts of the remaining sessions.
The Boilermakers finished 13th in the team scoring at the 2017 NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, matching the program's best showing of the modern era. They finished second among the Big Ten teams that scored at the meet.
WHO'S COMPETING FOR PURDUE
- Purdue will be represented by Marat Amaltdinov, Joe Cifelli, Steele Johnson and Brandon Loschiavo. All four have earned All-America honors previously in their careers.
- Johnson is a four-time NCAA champion, one of only eight men to win four NCAA titles since platform was added to the national championship meet in 1990. He was the 1-meter and platform national champion in 2015 and swept the springboard events last year.
- Amaltdinov, Johnson and Loschiavo have all won Big Ten titles during their careers. Amaltdinov won the 200 breaststroke in consecutive years (2016-17). Johnson was victorious on platform in 2016 and 3-meter this season. Loschiavo won the conference title on platform this year.
- Amaltdinov qualified for NCAAs for the fourth year in a row, but declined his bid in 2016 in order to train for the Russian Olympic Trials. Johnson's situation is similar. This will be his third appearance at NCAAs after not competing collegiately during the 2015-16 school year while exercising an Olympic practice waiver. Cifelli qualified for the national championship meet for the third year in a row, earning berths in both springboard events for the second time. Loschiavo will focus on the tower in his second appearance at NCAAs.
JOHNSON ALREADY IN ELITE COMPANY
- Johnson has won NCAA titles in all three diving events during his career, joining Boudia as the only divers to accomplish the feat since platform diving was added to the NCAA Championships in 1990. The University of Miami's Rio Ramirez (1997-99) is the only other man to win NCAA titles in both a springboard event (3 times on 1-meter) and on the tower (1999).
- Troy Dumais holds the all-time record for NCAA diving titles, winning seven for Texas from 1999 to 2002. All seven came in the springboard events. Boudia is the only other man to win at least six. Prior to 1990, six men won at least five NCAA diving titles. Al Patnik (1938-40), Miller Anderson (1946-48), Bruce Harlan (1948-50), Ken Sitzberger (1965-67), Jim Henry (1968-70) and Tim Moore (1973-75) all competed for Big Ten universities (Ohio State and Indiana).
- Last year, Johnson joined Dumais and Boudia as the only divers since 1990 to win a pair of national championships multiple times in their careers. Both Dumais (2000-02) and Boudia (2009-11) won multiple NCAA titles three years in a row.
MULTIPLE DIVING CHAMPIONS IN THE SAME YEAR, CONSECUTIVE SEASONS?
- With Johnson, Loschiavo and Cifelli all among the contenders to win NCAA titles, the Boilermakers are looking to become the first men's team since Miami (Fla.) in 1998 to have two different divers win a national championship in the same year. The Hurricanes actually accomplished the feat three years in a row from 1996 to 1998.
- Auburn was the last school to have different divers win NCAA titles in consecutive years. The Tigers' Caesar Garcia (2004), Matthew Bricker (2005) and Steve Segerlin (2006) won three straight national championships on platform. Tennessee (2003-04) and Miami (1999-02) have also accomplished the feat in the last 20 years.
RECENT ALL-AMERICA HISTORY
- Purdue has had at least one men's diver earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in 12 of the last 13 years. The Boilermakers will have multiple representatives in all three diving events this week. Sixty-two men's divers qualified for NCAAs this year. Johnson is among a group of 21 to earn a berth in all three diving events.
- Amaltdinov is seeded 23rd in the 200 breaststroke and 40th in the 100 breast. Divers are not seeded.
- 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.
- Amaltdinov finished seventh in the championship final of the 200 breast last season, becoming Purdue's first full-fledged All-American (via a top-8 finish) in a swimming event since Giordan Pogioli in 2006. Pogioli was also the program's last swimmer to be an All-American in consecutive seasons (2005-06).
- Cifelli was an All-American on 1-meter in 2017 and honorable mention All-America on 3-meter as a freshman. Last season, Loschiavo was an All-American on platform and honorable mention on 3-meter. Johnson has finished among the top nine all six times he competed at NCAAs. Along with his four national titles, he also won the consolation final of 3-meter in 2015 and finished as the runner-up on platform in 2017.
Last week, 12 members of Purdue women's swimming & diving competed at the NCAA Championships in Columbus. Lexi Vincent (platform), Kaersten Meitz (500 free) and Jinq En Phee (100 breast) earned All-America honors as championship finalists. The Purdue women finished 19th in the team scoring.
PURDUE ENTRIES & SCHEDULE AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Marat Amaltdinov -- 100, 200 Breaststroke
Joe Cifelli -- 1-Meter, 3-Meter Diving
Steele Johnson -- 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform Diving
Brandon Loschiavo --Platform Diving
Thursday, March 22 -- 1:15 p.m. Diving Prelims // 7 p.m. Finals
1-Meter Diving -- Joe Cifelli, Steele Johnson
Friday, March 23 -- 11 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 1:15 p.m. Diving Prelims // 7 p.m. Finals
100 Breast -- Marat Amaltdinov
3-Meter Diving -- Joe Cifelli, Steele Johnson
Saturday, March 24 -- 11 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 1 p.m. Diving Prelims // 7 p.m. Finals
200 Breast -- Marat Amaltdinov
Platform Diving -- Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo