ROSEMONT, Ill. – Jānis Dzirkalis’ three event victories Saturday at No. 20 Wisconsin earned the Latvian standout Big Ten Swimmer and Freshman of the Week honors, giving Purdue Men’s Swimming & Diving three such honors for both awards this season.
Dzirkalis swept the freestyle sprints for the third time this season and helped the Boilermakers close the dual with a victory in the 200 free relay. He also opened the meet with a race-best 100 free split (42.49) on the 400 medley relay.
Dzirkalis won the 50 and 100 free with times of 19.48 and 43.38. He out touched UW’s Enzo Solitaro by .08 hundredths of a second to win the 100. At the Ohio State Invitational last month, he posted NCAA Championships qualifying times of 19.32 and 43.24 – eclipsing Purdue’s freshman record in the 50 and moving up among the program’s all-time top 10 in both events.
Dzirkalis’ winning time in the 50 free Saturday in Madison was only .05 hundredths shy of the achieving the NCAA Championships qualifying standard again.
Andy Kelly, Dylan Burau, Nathaniel Thomas and Dzirkalis teamed up to win the 200 free relay with a 1:18.62, their best as a quartet this season and Purdue’s second-best mark overall. Dzirkalis contributed to a relay winner for the eighth time this season. He also shares the team lead (with Blake Rowe) with six individual event victories.
Dzirkalis joined Rowe (Oct. 1, Nov. 5) among the team’s Big Ten Swimmers of the Week this season. Dzirkalis is also a two-time Freshman of the Week honoree now after also earning the award on Oct. 22 following his freestyle sweep in the dual meet victory vs. Missouri. Biko Hooper-Haviland (Nov. 5) has also been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week this season.
THE LAST TIME
• Purdue men had three Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honorees in a season: 2015-16 (Marat Amaltdinov 3x)
• Purdue men had three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honorees in a season: 2021-22 (4 – Tyler Downs, Brady Samuels, Luke Fortner, Jordan Rzepka)
• A member of the Purdue men’s team swept Big Ten Swimmer and Freshman of the Week: Danny Conway in December 2012
• Two different members of the Purdue men’s team won Big Ten Swimmer of the Week during the fall semester: 2008-09 (Aaron Koger, John Schmitt)
Dzirkalis Pairs B1G Swimmer & Freshman of the Week Honors
Purdue has had two different Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honorees during the fall semester for the first time since 2008-09