Nathaniel Thomas Blocks at Big TensTyler Wills Big Ten Bronze Sq Crop

Purdue Men Return to Madison for Big Ten Championships

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by Ben Turner

MEET INFORMATION 
Purdue Men’s Swimming & Diving at the Big Ten Championships
 
Wednesday, Feb. 25 to Saturday, Feb. 28 / All Sessions Streaming on B1G+
Opening Night Relays & Team Diving at 5 p.m. ET
Swimming Prelims at 11 a.m. Prelims / Diving Prelims at 1 p.m. / 6 p.m. Finals Sessions
Soderholm Family Aquatic Center / Madison, Wisconsin

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Men’s Swimming & Diving makes its second trip of the season to Madison, joining the full complement of teams from around the league as Wisconsin hosts the men’s edition of the Big Ten Championships on campus for the first time since 1974.

Action is set for Wednesday evening through Saturday at UW’s Soderholm Family Aquatic Center, which opened in September 2020 and hosted the women’s Big Ten Championships for the first time in 2022. Swimming prelims begin at 11 a.m. ET and diving prelims at 1 p.m. Finals sessions begin at 6 p.m. ET with the diving consolation final. The meet opens Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET with a pair of relays plus the exhibition team diving event.

With the NCAA Championships adopting a new event schedule this season, the Big Ten Championships has followed suit and changed up its daily slate of events as well. The Boilermakers experienced that new event schedule for the first time at the Ohio State Invitational in November. At the OSU Invite, sophomores Blake Rowe (200 back) and Evan Mackesy (400 IM) eclipsed team records; Jānis Dzirkalis (50 free) and Biko Hooper-Haviland (200 fly) also broke Purdue freshman records.

REVAMPED EVENT SCHEDULE AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS – 7-SESSION FORMAT

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

200 Medley Relay
Team Diving
800 Free Relay




100 Fly
400 IM
200 Free
100 Breast
1-Meter Diving
200 Free Relay

100 Back
200 Breast
500 Free
50 Free
3-Meter Diving
400 Medley Relay

200 IM
1650 Free
100 Free
200 Fly
200 Back
Platform Diving
400 Free Relay

Diving Prelims Begin Daily at 1 p.m. ET | 1,650 Free & Relays are Finals Only
Diving Consolation Finals are First Event of Finals Sessions
First Heat of 1,650 Free at 4:15 p.m. ET | Fastest Heat of 1,650 Free in Finals



Purdue’s swimmers competed head-to-head vs. Wisconsin in Madison on Dec. 6. Dzirkalis swept the freestyle sprints in the dual. The divers were en route to the USA Diving Winter Nationals in Texas and were unable to attend. It marked the sixth time since the 2017-18 the Boilers competed at the host pool of Big Tens prior to the championship season.

Divers Tyler Wills, Kaden Springfield and Zach Welsh represented Purdue on the inaugural Big Ten All-Freshman Team a year ago at Big Tens. Wills won bronze on platform at Big Tens and Springfield won bronze on the tower at the NCAA Championships. Welsh finished top 10 on both springboards at Big Tens. Junior Max Miller was also a championship finalist on 1-meter last season and Holden Higbie scored in all three diving events in 2024 before redshirting due to injury a year ago.

Senior Dylan Burau is also back at Big Tens after a redshirt season. He was an A finalist while setting a team record in the 200 backstroke in 2024. Last season, Rowe was an A finalist in the 200 back in his debut at Big Tens.

Last season, diver Jordan Rzepka became Purdue’s first Big Ten champion since 2021. However, the Boilers enjoyed a seven-year streak with at least one Big Ten champion from 2015 to 2021. Those titles were in platform diving (four), 200 breaststroke (three) and 3-meter diving (two).

TOP 5 TIMES/SCORES IN TEAM HISTORY POSTED THIS SEASON
Blake Rowe – 1:41.43 in 200 Back (Team Record)
Evan Mackesy – 3:43.72 in 400 IM (Team Record)
Alex Hotta – 45.81 in 100 Fly (2nd)
Biko Hooper-Haviland – 1:43.93 (2nd)
…Purdue Freshman Record
Jānis Dzirkalis – 19.32 in 50 Free (3rd)
Alex Hotta – 46.04 in 100 Back (3rd)
Maxwell Blume – 52.72 in 100 Breast (3rd)
• 200 Free Relay – 1:16.80 (3rd)
…Thomas, Hotta, Burau, Dzirkalis
Dylan Burau – 46.20 in 100 Back (4th)
Evan Mackesy – 1:34.98 in 200 Free (4th)
• 200 Medley Relay – 1:24.11 in 200 Medley Relay (4th)
…Hotta, Byrd, Thomas, Dzirkalis
• 400 Free Relay – 2:51.28 (4th)
…Hotta, Dzirkalis, Thomas, Cole
Maxwell Blume – 1:54.87 in 200 Breast (5th)
Jonny Hines – 9:09.14 in 1000 Free (5th)
400 Medley Relay – 3:07.77 (5th)
…Burau, Blume, Hotta, Dzirkalis

ACTIVE CAREER SCORING LEADERS AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Boilermaker

Career Points

2025

2024

2023

Max Miller

46

29

17

NA

Zach Welsh

44

44

NA

NA

Tyler Wills

41

41

NA

NA

Holden Higbie

40

DNC

40

NA

Kaden Springfield

40

40

NA

NA

Dylan Burau

28.5

DNC

27

1.5

Blake Rowe

27

27

NA

NA

Pat Broderick

20

7

13

NA

Evan Mackesy

15

15

NA

NA

Maxwell Blume

12

12

--

NA

Raymond Whittaker

11

8

3

--

Nathaniel Thomas

7

--

7

NA


NOTABLE LIFETIME BESTS TO MOVE UP/JOIN PURDUE RECORD BOOK AT 2025 BIG TENS

(Current All-Time Rank in Team History)

800 Free Relay Team – 6:21.94 (1st)
…Samuels, Mattice, Rowe, Mackesy
Evan Mackesy – 3:45.72 in 400 IM (1st)
…Purdue Freshman Record
Pat Broderick – 15:12.43 in 1650 Free (4th(
200 Free Relay Team – 1:17.44 (5th)
…Thomas, Samuels, Muhammad, Kelly
400 Free Relay Team – 2:51.92 (5th)
…Samuels, Muhammad, Thomas, Kelly
Maxwell Blume – 1:56.69 in 200 Breast (5th)
200 Medley Relay – 1:25.20 (8th)
…Muhammad, Whittaker, Samuels, Thomas
Evan Mackesy – 4:23.28 in 500 Free (6th)
Raymond Whittaker – 1:57.03 in 200 Breast (9th)
Maxwell Blume – 53.36 in 100 Breast (3rd)
Raymond Whittaker – 53.41 in 100 Breast (T-10th)
Walker Mattice – 1:36.51 in 200 Free (14th)
Tyler Wills – 430.50 on Platform (12th)
Wyatt Blair – 1:46.49 in 200 Fly (14th)
Pat Broderick – 4:24.80 in 500 Free (11th)

PURDUE’S ACTIVE SWIMMERS TO RACE ON RELAYS AT BIG TENS LAST SEASON

Nathaniel Thomas – 200 & 400 Free, 200 Medley
Andy Kelly – 200 & 400 Free, 400 Medley
Evan Mackesy – 400 Medley, 800 Free
Blake Rowe – 400 Medley, 800 Free
Maxwell Blume – 400 Medley
Walker Mattice – 800 Free

YEAR 11 OF THE CURRENT SCORING BREAKDOWN
 
A Final: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22 
B Final: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11 
C Final: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (and 17th through 24th in Diving Prelims) 
Relays: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40

PURDUE'S MOST RECENT BIG TEN CHAMPIONS 
Diving: Jordan Rzepka – Platform, 2025
Swimming: Marat Amaltdinov – 200 Breast, 2017
Relay: 400 Medley (Sutherland, Kovacs, Brown, Ullom), 1997

YEARS THE PURDUE MEN COMPETED AT SITE OF BIG TENS BEFORE CHAMPIONSHIP MEET
Since 2000; excluding years the Boilermakers hosted Big Tens
• 2025-26 in Madison – Men’s Swimmers at Wisconsin in December
• 2024-25 in Minneapolis – Big Ten Triple Duals at Minnesota in January/February
• 2022-23 in Ann Arbor – Dual Meet at Michigan in November
• 2019-20 in Bloomington – Dual Meet at Indiana in January
• 2018-19 in Iowa City – Men’s Swimmers Won Hawkeye Invitational in November (Divers at Texas)
• 2017-18 in Minneapolis – Big Ten Triple Duals at Minnesota in January
• 2011-12 in Iowa City – Triple Dual vs. Iowa & Ohio State in November
• 2006-07 in Columbus – Dual Meet at Ohio State in November (Divers at OSU Invite in December)
• 2005-06 in Bloomington – Dual Meet at Indiana in February
• 2004-05 in Minneapolis – Minnesota Invitational in November
• 2002-03 in Ann Arbor – Dual Meet at Michigan in January
• 2001-02 in Bloomington – Dual Meet at Indiana in February