WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue swimmers Brady Samuels and Nick Sherman both qualified for the NCAA Championships as individuals and will have an opportunity to race in three events apiece at the national championship meet.
Sherman earned his fourth career berth at the NCAA Championships and his third as an individual. He's believed to be just the sixth men's swimmer for Purdue to be a four-year NCAAs qualifier.
Samuels is going back to NCAAs as a sophomore, qualifying as an individual for the first time. Last season, Samuels and Sherman teamed up to earn All-America honors on Purdue's 400 freestyle relay team.
The divers compete for their NCAA Championships berths this week at the Zone C Championships hosted by Indiana. On the men's side, Jordan Rzepka and Sam Bennett both qualified for NCAAs as freshmen a year ago.
Samuels qualified via his career-best time of 41.99 in the 100 freestyle, which he registered Saturday at the Boiler-Make-It last chance meet. It ranked 18th nationally. He improved on his second-fastest time in team history and joined Olympian Nikola Aćin as the only Boilermakers to ever break 42 seconds in the event.
Sherman's program-record time of 1:42.62 while winning silver in the 200 individual medley at the Big Ten Championships booked his ticket to the Twin Cities. It ranked 21st nationally. Coincidentally, Sherman first eclipsed that record in the prelims of the 2021 NCAA Championships. He's now broken it four times.
Brady Samuels
• Qualified In: 100 Free – 41.99, ranking 18th nationally
• Also Plans to Race: 50 Free (19.58), 100 Back (45.86)
Nick Sherman
• Qualified In: 200 IM – 1:42.62, ranking 21st nationally
• Also Plans to Race: 100 Free (43.29), 200 Free (1:33.56)
The cut line was top 29 to 31 nationally in individual events this year. As individual qualifiers, Samuels and Sherman also have the opportunity to race in events in which they have NCAA provisional qualifying times (B Cut). Samuels opted for the 50 free and 100 back, Sherman went with the 100 and 200 free. Sherman did not race the 100 free at Big Tens but posted strong splits of 18.85 and 42.29 on the 200 medley and 400 free relays in Ann Arbor.
Purdue ranked among the top 25 nationally in the 200 medley relay (1:23.85, 20th) and 400 free relay (2:50.87, 22nd) this season but did not have a prerequisite NCAA automatic qualifying time (A Cut) that would in turn have qualified all of its relays with at least a B Cut.
The men's NCAA Championships are set for March 22-25 at Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Samuels and Sherman both competed there at the Big Ten Triple Duals last season. They'll be entered in the 50 free and 200 IM on Thursday, the 100 back and 200 free Friday, and the 100 free Saturday.
PURDUE MEN'S SWIMMERS TO BE 4-YEAR NCAAs QUALIFIERS
• Vilmos Kovacs – 1996-99
• Tamas Bessenyei – 2001-04
• Giordan Pogioli – 2003-06
• Romain Maire – 2005-08
• Marat Amaltdinov – 2015-18*
• Nick Sherman – 2020-23
*Declined his bid in 2016 to train for Russia's Olympic Trials
Sherman earned his fourth career berth at the NCAA Championships and his third as an individual. He's believed to be just the sixth men's swimmer for Purdue to be a four-year NCAAs qualifier.
Samuels is going back to NCAAs as a sophomore, qualifying as an individual for the first time. Last season, Samuels and Sherman teamed up to earn All-America honors on Purdue's 400 freestyle relay team.
The divers compete for their NCAA Championships berths this week at the Zone C Championships hosted by Indiana. On the men's side, Jordan Rzepka and Sam Bennett both qualified for NCAAs as freshmen a year ago.
Samuels qualified via his career-best time of 41.99 in the 100 freestyle, which he registered Saturday at the Boiler-Make-It last chance meet. It ranked 18th nationally. He improved on his second-fastest time in team history and joined Olympian Nikola Aćin as the only Boilermakers to ever break 42 seconds in the event.
Sherman's program-record time of 1:42.62 while winning silver in the 200 individual medley at the Big Ten Championships booked his ticket to the Twin Cities. It ranked 21st nationally. Coincidentally, Sherman first eclipsed that record in the prelims of the 2021 NCAA Championships. He's now broken it four times.
Brady Samuels
• Qualified In: 100 Free – 41.99, ranking 18th nationally
• Also Plans to Race: 50 Free (19.58), 100 Back (45.86)
Nick Sherman
• Qualified In: 200 IM – 1:42.62, ranking 21st nationally
• Also Plans to Race: 100 Free (43.29), 200 Free (1:33.56)
The cut line was top 29 to 31 nationally in individual events this year. As individual qualifiers, Samuels and Sherman also have the opportunity to race in events in which they have NCAA provisional qualifying times (B Cut). Samuels opted for the 50 free and 100 back, Sherman went with the 100 and 200 free. Sherman did not race the 100 free at Big Tens but posted strong splits of 18.85 and 42.29 on the 200 medley and 400 free relays in Ann Arbor.
Purdue ranked among the top 25 nationally in the 200 medley relay (1:23.85, 20th) and 400 free relay (2:50.87, 22nd) this season but did not have a prerequisite NCAA automatic qualifying time (A Cut) that would in turn have qualified all of its relays with at least a B Cut.
The men's NCAA Championships are set for March 22-25 at Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Samuels and Sherman both competed there at the Big Ten Triple Duals last season. They'll be entered in the 50 free and 200 IM on Thursday, the 100 back and 200 free Friday, and the 100 free Saturday.
PURDUE MEN'S SWIMMERS TO BE 4-YEAR NCAAs QUALIFIERS
• Vilmos Kovacs – 1996-99
• Tamas Bessenyei – 2001-04
• Giordan Pogioli – 2003-06
• Romain Maire – 2005-08
• Marat Amaltdinov – 2015-18*
• Nick Sherman – 2020-23
*Declined his bid in 2016 to train for Russia's Olympic Trials
Brady & Nick are going to the Twin Cities!!
— Purdue Men's Swim-Dive (@PurdueMSwimDive) March 8, 2023
They'll represent us in 3 individual events each at the national championship meet. #BoilerUp
🚂 Brady: Qualified 18th in 100 Free
➡️ Also Racing: 50 Free, 100 Back
🚂 Nick: Qualified 21st in 200 IM
➡️ Also Racing: 100 & 200 Free pic.twitter.com/ygcaIh9rEw