15 Men Travel for Opener as Purdue Returns to Florida St.

MEET INFORMATION
Purdue Men vs. Florida State & Georgia Tech at Seminole Fall Classic
Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. ET
Saturday, Oct. 10 at 10 a.m. ET
Morcom Aquatics Center / Tallahassee, Fla.
Stream on FSU’s Seminoles Unconquered App

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Men’s Swimming & Diving opens its season with a return trip to Tallahassee where 15 Boilermakers – 12 swimmers and three divers – have been chosen to compete against Florida State and Georgia Tech at the two-day Seminole Fall Classic.

There are 11 events scheduled for both sessions, which are set for Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Morcom Aquatics Center (an outdoor facility). Purdue sent 12 swimmers to the Seminole Fall Classic last season, finishing second among a field that also featured FSU, West Virginia and NCAA Division II national champion Tampa. The Boilermakers opted to add three divers to the travel party this season in an effort to have entries in all 22 events.

BOILERMAKERS COMPETING IN TALLAHASSEE
Chris Bartmess Aran Bissett Dylan Burau Alexander Cole Jānis Dzirkalis Biko Hooper-Haviland Tom Jhang Charles Lee	Evan Mackesy Blake Rowe Luca Scampicchio Nathaniel Thomas Divers Kaden Springfield Zach Welsh Tyler Wills
ORDER OF EVENTS AT SEMINOLE FALL CLASSIC
Friday at 7 p.m. 200 Medley Relay 200 Free 50 Breast 400 IM 100 Fly 50 Free 200 Breast 100 Back 100 IM 100 Free Relay 3-Meter Diving	Saturday at 10 a.m. 100 Medley Relay 500 Free 50 Fly 100 Breast 200 Back 100 Free 200 Fly 50 Back 200 IM 200 Free Relay 1-Meter Diving

Among Purdue’s 12 swimmers competing this weekend, Dylan Burau, Alexander Cole, Jānis Dzirkalis, Evan Mackesy, Blake Rowe and Nathaniel Thomas were also part of the Tallahassee travel party a year ago. Dzirkalis, Mackesy and Thomas went on to represent the program at the NCAA Championships, where they were joined by all three divers traveling this weekend. Biko Hooper-Haviland, Burau, Dzirkalis, Mackesy, Rowe and Thomas are all current or former team record holders.

Freshmen Aran Bissett, Tom Jhang and Luca Scampicchio will all make their collegiate debuts this weekend, just as Dzirkalis did in Tallahassee a year ago. Dzirkalis impressed early on while racing short course yardage events for the first time, posting a 50 freestyle split of 18.70 on the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay and finishing as the runner-up in both freestyle sprints. It was the first of many times he would go sub-19 seconds on a relay split. The Latvian eventually reset Purdue’s 50 free record at 19.08 at the Big Ten Championships (only leadoff legs on relays count towards event records).

The Boilermakers enjoyed 1-2 finishes in two of their event victories in Tallahassee a year ago – Rowe and Burau in the 200 backstroke as well Mackesy and Rowe in the 200 individual medley.

Rowe swept the backstroke events at the Seminole Fall Classic, setting the stage for a breakout sophomore season that saw him earn multiple Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors, eclipse Burau’s team record in the 200 back and finish fifth in his premier event at the Big Ten Championships.

Mackesy opened his sophomore season with a victory in the 200 IM at the Seminole Fall Classic and was out touched by just 0.25 hundredths as the runner-up in the 400 IM. He went on to set a team record in the 400 IM at Big Tens, a mark that earned him an individual bid to the NCAA Championships. Mackesy also eclipsed the team record in the 500 free and moved into second place in program history in the 200 IM.

Hooper-Haviland, Mackesy and Rowe all went on to medal for the UniUSA Team at the American Games in Peru the final weekend of July.

LIFETIME BESTS FROM 2025-26 TO JOIN/MOVE UP PURDUE RECORD BOOK Active Boilermakers entering this season

Relays • 200 Medley Relay – 1:23.10, Team Record …Hotta, Byrd, Thomas, Dzirkalis • 200 Free Relay – 1:16.51, 2nd …Thomas, Dzirkalis, Hotta, Burau • 800 Free Relay – 6:22.82, 2nd …Mackesy, Hooper-Haviland, Burau, Cole • 400 Medley Relay – 3:06.63, 3rd …Hotta, Blume, Hooper-Haviland, Dzirkalis • 400 Free Relay – 2:50.92, 4th …Dzirkalis, Thomas, Hotta, Cole Evan Mackesy • 400 IM – 3:40.95, Team Record • 500 Free – 4:14.85, Team Record • 200 IM – 1:43.42, 2nd Jānis Dzirkalis • 50 Free – 19.08, Team & Freshman Records • 100 Free – 42.75, 3rd Blake Rowe • 200 Back – 1:40.45, Team Record • 100 Back – 46.75, 5th Biko Hooper-Haviland • 200 Fly – 1:43.60, Team & Freshman Records • 100 Fly – 47.49, 14th Jonah Lee • 100 Breast – 52.76, 5th & Freshman Record • 200 Breast – 1:56.88, 11th

Dylan Burau • 100 Back – 46.20, 4th Jonny Hines • 1000 Free – 9:09.14, 5th • 1650 Free – 15:21.79, 11th • 500 Free – 4:24.12, 12th Nathaniel Thomas • 50 Free – 19.38, 6th • 100 Free – 43.13, 7th • 100 Fly – 47.20, 11th Alexander Cole • 200 Free – 1:35.26, 6th Tyler Wills • Platform Diving – 465.20, 7th • 3-Meter Diving – 426.90, 11th Holden Higbie • 1-Meter Diving – 411.75, 9th • 3-Meter Diving – 440.25, 9th Gio Mango • 200 Breast – 1:56.65, 9th Pat Broderick • 500 Free – 4:23.97, 11th • 400 IM – 3:50.92, 14th Lucas Byrd • 100 Breast – 53.59, 13th Walker Mattice 200 Free – 1:36.44, 14th Matt Rose • 1000 Free – 9:17.48, 14th

Business Trip to Florida. Let's keep the 🚂 moving. #BoilerUp 🎥 Maxwell Blume https://t.co/A6WmKOvFYL

— Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving (@PurdueMSwimDive) September 29, 2025