WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -– The Purdue men’s swimming and diving team won the season-opening Indiana Intercollegiates after scoring 928 points Saturday afternoon inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

“I always like this meet because it’s the first time you get to see your young guys swim and see how they handle everything,” head coach Dan Ross said. “This was even one week earlier than last year, which was one week earlier than we normally do it, so I was mildly surprised we had as many better times than we had last year. It gives us some things to build on for the next three weeks.”

Purdue started the meet with victories in the first four swimming events. The 200 medley relay team of Chris Pfaff, Aaron Koger, Sam Wilcher and Chuck Destro started the festivities with a 1:32.68 victory. Junior Drew Wolfred then won the 200 freestyle after touching the wall in 1:42.61. Sophomore Ben Wachtel, the school’s freshman record holder in the 200 freestyle, outswam the 50 freestyle field with his 20.96 clocking. The winning continued in the 200 IM as sophomore Albert Miller took that race in 1:55.10.

Purdue also swept both diving events. Junior J.P. Perez won the 3-meter with his score of 341.70, and junior All-American David Colturi outscored the 1-meter field after recording a 345.20 score. Perez was second off the 1-meter with 317.65 points, and freshman Jimmy Page finished third with his 287.85 score.

Wachtel got Purdue back on the winning track in the pool when he outraced the 100 freestyle field and finished in 45.97. Destro, a freshman from Pittsburgh, continued the trend in the very next race as he stopped the clock in 51.12 to take the 100 backstroke victory and lead a Purdue sweep of the top-six places.
Freshman Vinny Donnelly took the 500 freestyle title as he touched the wall in 4:38.12 to lead a top-five sweep by the Boilermakers, and Koger claimed the top spot in the 100 breaststroke with his 55.90 time. The Boilermakers’ 200 freestyle quartet of Kyle House, Brendan Joyce, Gage Barry and Wachtel ended the meet with a 1:24.71 win.

In addition to his victory, Destro also finished second in the 50 freestyle with his 21.36 time. Wilcher also swam to a runner-up finish in the 500 freestyle after touching the wall in 4:39.89. House and Miller also added second-place finishes in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively, to their wins. Freshman Corey Bandura earned a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle with his 47.16 time and finished third in the 50 freestyle after stopping the clock in 21.55.

Sophomore Tyler Gertz finished third in the 100 backstroke and was followed in fourth by junior Mark Boman, in fifth by freshman Sam Niesen and in sixth by sophomore Zach Johnson. Junior Scott Dean swam to a third-place finish in the 200 IM and was followed by Wilcher in fourth and freshman Aaron Buchanan in fifth.

Sophomore Jimmy Brooks touched the wall in 50.75 to finish third in the 100 butterfly. He was immediately followed by junior Chris Pfaff in 51.29 and freshman Alec LaMothe in 52.66. Barry was third in the 100 freestyle with his 47.49 clocking, and Wolfred and Joyce finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Seniors Travis Smith and Andre Koop finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 500 freestyle and were followed by freshman Raymond Mahon in fifth.

Dean also finished third in the 100 breaststroke when he recorded a 58.79 clocking. He was followed by sophomore Wyatt Hodges in fourth in 59.62. Joyce clocked a fourth-place time of 21.68 in the 50 freestyle, and freshman Noah Pashley was right behind in fifth with his 21.69 time. LaMothe and Barry finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 200 freestyle.

Purdue won the Indiana Intercollegiates title for the ninth consecutive season. Evansville finished second with 309 points and was followed by Indianapolis’ 256 total in third. IUPUI scored 159 to finish fourth, and Valparaiso was fifth with 102 points.

Purdue returns to the pool Oct. 30 when it hosts Miami University at 5 p.m. ET.

ROME — Purdue sophomore diver and Noblesville, Indiana native David Boudia won a silver medal Saturday in the synchronized platform competition at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy.

FINA World Championships Men's 10m Synchronized Platform Results -- China's Huo and Lin, gold. Americans Boudia and Finchum, silver. Cubans Guerra Oliva and Aguirre Manso, bronze.

Boudia teamed with Beijing Olympic teammate Thomas Finchum to put 456.84 points on the board during the five-dive list. The duo was tied for sixth after the second set of dives but vaulted to second with 89.76 points, the highest score of the round, in the third. Boudia and Finchum wrapped up the silver with a 98.04-point dive in the final round. The divers earned their second World Championships medal after placing third in the event at the 2007 World Championships before finishing fifth in the Olympics last summer.

“Thomas and I are very excited to win the silver medal,” Boudia said. “We’ve been working hard since Beijing. We’re excited to put the US back on track, and I know this is not the end.”

Liang Huo and Yue Lin from China, who won gold at the Beijing Olympics and the 2007 World Championships, took the top spot by scoring 482.58 points. After Boudia and Finchum, Cuba’s Jose Antonio Guerra Oliva and Jeinkler Ernesto Aguirre Manso rounded out the medal podium with a third-place, 456.60-point finish.

Boudia, whose sixth-place finish Tuesday in the individual platform was the highest by an American in the event since 1998, contributed to the best World Championships by the United States since 1991. The Americans return to the states with four medals, all silver, which is the highest medal count for the red, white and blue since the 1991 championships in Perth, Australia.

David Boudia (shown here with teammate Thomas Finchum) is in his second final at this year's FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy.

ROME — Purdue diver David Boudia qualified for the final in the synchronized platform competition Friday at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy.

Boudia, who finished sixth in the 10m platform Tuesday, joined with Thomas Finchum to put together the fourth-highest score in Friday’s preliminary round. Boudia and Finchum, who dove together at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and earned a bronze medal at the FINA Diving World Series in April, scored 426.54 points to finish less than a point behind third.

Boudia and Finchum go after a medal in Saturday’s final, which begins at 7:00a Eastern.

ROME — Purdue University diver David Boudia earned the highest finish by an American in more than a decade when he finished sixth in the platform competition Tuesday at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy.

Boudia will join his Beijing Olympic teammate Thomas Finchum for the synchronized platform preliminary round on Friday morning.

“I felt comfortable up there, and I started off well,” Boudia said. “I had a mishap on my gainer and gave up some points there, but it happens. There’s room for improvement.”

Boudia scored 491.80 points in the final to earn the best US finish at the World Championships since Mark Ruiz also finished sixth in 1998. Boudia bolstered his score by earning three 10s throughout the competition. The Big Ten and NCAA champion off the platform was given two perfect scores on his second dive, an inward three-and-a-half, and one on his fifth dive, a back three-and-a-half. Boudia qualified for the final with a sixth-place, 485.25-point list in the semifinal earlier Tuesday.

“I’m proud of David for battling back,” Purdue head diving coach Adam Soldati said. “He missed his fourth-round dive a little bit (in the final), but he really showed a tremendous amount of mental toughness and battled back like a champion. He has a few days now before synchro, and I’m looking forward to seeing him and Thomas compete.”

Boudia now turns his attention to the synchronized platform competition. The Noblesville, Ind., native joins Beijing Olympic teammate Thomas Finchum for the preliminary round Friday at 7 a.m. ET.

ROME — Purdue diver David Boudia qualified for the semifinal in the 10-meter platform competition Monday at the World Championships in Rome, Italy.

Boudia will join Thomas Finchum, his teammate at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, for the synchronized platform preliminary competition Friday.

Boudia, who was voted Purdue’s Male Athlete of the Year, scored 472.60 points off the 10-meter platform during Monday’s preliminary round. He scored seventh-highest in the preliminary and is one of 18 divers to advance to Tuesday’s semifinal. The top three divers in the 10-meter platform preliminary were Bo Qiu (China) with a score of 515.75, Cuba’s José Antonio Guerra Oliva with a score of 515.65 and Luxin Zhou (China) with a score of 495.55.

The semifinal round is slated to begin Tuesday at 4:00a Eastern (10:00a in Rome). The final round, which features the top-12 divers from the semifinal, is scheduled for 11:45a Eastern (5:45p Rome). After he is done with the individual platform competition, Boudia will join Thomas Finchum, his teammate at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, for the synchronized platform preliminary competition Friday.