ROSEMONT, Ill. – A quartet of juniors were chosen to represent Purdue Swimming & Diving on the Big Ten’s preseason list of Student-Athletes to Watch, a who’s who of the league that features swimmers Campbell Scofield and Evan Mackesy as well as divers Avery Worobel and Tyler Wills.
The conference office introduced the preseason watch lists for swimming & diving prior to the 2024-25 season. All programs are invited to highlight one swimmer and one diver of each gender.
Wills was the 2026 Big Ten Diver of the Year after winning silver on platform at the NCAA Championships and Big Ten Championships, posting the league’s best showing by a diver at the men’s national championship meet. Worobel won the Purdue women’s first Big Ten title on 3-meter since 2020 with her victory at the conference championships as a sophomore a season ago.
Mackesy earned an individual bid to the NCAA Championships as a sophomore, qualifying in the 400 individual medley and also earning the right to race in the 200 IM and 500 freestyle. He set program records in the 400 IM (3:40.95) and 500 free (4:14.85) last season.
Mackesy and Wills were among the men’s program-record 11 NCAAs qualifiers to conclude the 2025-26 campaign. Among that group, all but one is back for the new season ahead.
Scofield’s premier event is the 200 butterfly. She was an A finalist in it at Big Tens as a freshman in 2025, joining Worobel on the then new Big Ten All-Freshman team. Her lifetime best mark of 1:56.71 ranks fourth in team history. This summer, she also set a Purdue long course record in the 200-meter fly (2:13.00).
Mackesy and Scofield were among the eight Boilermakers that medaled for the UniUSA Team at the America Games in Peru the final weekend of July. Scofield swept the golds in the 100m and 200m fly. Mackesy’s three medals included gold in the 200m IM as well as silver in the 200m fly and 400m IM. Purdue’s swimmers teamed up to win 14 medals at the international meet.
Along with being All-Americans at the 2026 NCAA Championships, Wills and Worobel are also USA Diving medalists. Most recently, Wills won bronze on 10-meter at the USA Diving National Championships in August and Worobel took home silver at 1-meter at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December.
The Boilermakers open their seasons the first two weekends of October. The women’s opener is a Friday, Oct. 2 dual at Illinois as the home-and-home series that dates back to 2021 continues. The men return to Tallahassee for the two-day Seminole Fall Classic the weekend of Oct. 9-10. A select group of swimmers will travel for the Boilers and they’ll be joined by three divers this year. The meet field also features Florida State, Georgia Tech and the Iowa State women.
Purdue’s home opener is the annual Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate. The in-state showcase is set for Saturday, Oct. 24 at noon.
