ROSEMONT, Ill. – Purdue Swimming & Diving’s Halloween Weekend home meet produced a bevy of Big Ten weekly honors for the Boilermakers that added up to five total.
Holden Higbie and Avery Worobel enjoyed a case of Big Ten Diver of the Week déjà vu while teaming up to sweep the honors for the second week in a row. Aran Bissett also doubled up as the men’s Big Ten Swimmer and Freshman of the Week. Caroline Mallard has joined Bissett as a two-time Big Freshman of the Week over the opening month of the season.
Bissett, Higbie, Mallard and Worobel teamed up to win seven individual events at the two-day dual vs. Oakland. Bissett and Mallard were also part of five of Purdue’s six total relay winners.
The Boilermakers also won four Big Ten weekly honors after last year’s triple dual sweep of Oakland and Cincinnati in Michigan over Halloween Weekend.
Bissett follows in the footsteps of Jānis Dzirkalis as active Boilermakers to earn Big Ten Swimmer and Freshman of the Week recognition simultaneously. Dzirkalis received the dual recognition in December 2025 after sweeping the freestyle sprints in a dual meet at Wisconsin.
Higbie and Worobel both earned their third career Big Ten Diver of the Week honors.
Mallard needed only four meets to eclipse Purdue’s freshman record in the 100 butterfly, taking down a mark that had stood since the 2020 Big Ten Championships. She won the event in 53.24, leading a 1-2-3-4 finish while posting the fifth-fastest time in team history overall and a top-10 time in the Big Ten this season.
Bissett demonstrated his versatility again by winning the 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley. He swam on all four of the Boilermakers’ top relays, helping Purdue win the 200 and 400 free plus the 400 medley. The 400 free relay team posted the eighth-fastest time (2:53.43) in team history. On the medley relays, he swam the breaststroke leg on the 200 and the anchor freestyle leg on the 400.
Higbie posted team-best list scores on 1-meter (392.75) and 3-meter (427.55), leading the way as the men went 1-2-3-4 in both events. Worobel has now won five consecutive events in which she has competed, sweeping the springboards at a triple dual on consecutive Fridays (the Louisville Divers were also in attendance on Oct. 30). Worobel (6) and Higbie (3) have combined for nine victories as the Purdue Divers have opened the season 14-for-14 in event wins on the springboards over the first month.
Mallard contributed to each of the women’s victories in the 400 relays. While competing in the 400 medley relay for the first time this season, the Boilermakers’ time of 3:37.37 was good for ninth in the team record book.
Purdue is back in action the week of Nov. 17-20 for the seven-session Ohio State Invitational. The outsized field will feature 18 universities in some capacity (men’s swimmers, women’s swimmers, co-ed divers) as a midseason showcase. The Boilermakers will be one of eight universities with all three groups in attendance.
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EVENT VICTORIES AT HALLOWEEN WEEKEND MEET |
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Aran Bissett |
Avery Worobel |