WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Headlined by Evan Mackesy qualifying as an individual and having an opportunity to race in the three events in which he scored at the Big Ten Championships, five of Purdue’s men’s swimmers have qualified to compete at the NCAA Championships.
After teaming up to set a program record in the 200 medley relay in the opening event at Big Tens, Alex Hotta, Lucas Byrd, Nathaniel Thomas and Jānis Dzirkalis also qualified for NCAAs. Their time of 1:23.10 was an NCAA automatic qualifying time (A Cut).
All six of Purdue’s men’s divers also qualified for the NCAA Championships. The 11 total qualifiers is a program record, eclipsing the 10 student-athletes that represented the Boilermakers at the national championship meets in 2014, 2015 and 2022.
Mackesy’s team-record time of 3:40.95 in the 400 individual medley is the mark that made the sophomore an individual qualifier. It was a mark that ranked 21st nationally. Mackesy also posted NCAAs qualifying times in the 200 IM (1:43.42) and 500 freestyle (4:14.85, another Purdue record). He’ll have the opportunity to race in those events in Atlanta as well.
The Boilermakers earned the right to compete in the 200 free relay. Senior Dylan Burau teamed up with Thomas, Dzirkalis and Hotta to post a time of 1:16.51 at Big Tens, a mark that was just .01 hundredth shy of the program record. But more importantly, it was an NCAA provisional qualifying time (B Cut). Because Purdue auto-qualified in the 200 medley relay, it also has an opportunity to race in the additional relay. The coaching staff will choose either Byrd or Mackesy to team with Thomas, Dziralis and Hotta.
The revamped event schedule at the NCAA Championships now features the 400 IM on Thursday, the 500 free Friday and the 200 IM on Saturday. The 200 medley relay continues to be featured Wednesday and the 200 free relay is now Thursday. All relays have prelims and finals again.
Purdue will be represented by a relay at NCAAs for the first time since 2022. The Boilermakers had relays qualify for three consecutive NCAA Championships from 2019 to 2022 (the 2020 meet was canceled). Brady Samuels (50 & 100 free, 100 back) and Nick Sherman (100 & 200 free, 200 fly) both represented Purdue in three individual swimming events at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Samuels (100 free & 100 fly) returned to NCAAs last year to close out his career.
Swimmer Reagan Mattice (1650 free) and divers Avery Worobel (1-meter & 3-meter) and Daryn Wright (3-meter & platform) also qualified for the NCAA Championships for the Purdue women. Purdue Swimming & Diving has produced 14 total NCAAs qualifiers for the first time since 2022 when it also had 14. (4 women, 10 men).
Georgia Tech is hosting both the men’s and women’s NCAA Championships this season for the second time this decade (also in 2022). The men’s meet is set for March 25-28 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
Mackesy, Relay Team to Rep Purdue Men at NCAAs
