By Dan D’Addona.
The Purdue-Notre Dame rivalry has been one of the underrated in the Midwest. But this rivalry spans all sports and, at times, has been its best in the pool.
The Boilermakers have held the upper hand in this battle of Indiana schools for the past few years, but that all came to an end this weekend.
The Notre Dame men defeated Purdue 165-135, the Fighting Irish’s first victory over the Boilermakers since the 2012-13 season.
Meanwhile, the Notre Dame women toppled Miami (224-74), Rutgers (221-78) and Purdue (190-110), posting their first win over the Boilermakers since the 2008-09 season.
The win was a statement for the Fighting Irish and was evidence that Notre Dame is molding itself into a contender again.
Meanwhile, the meet also showed that Purdue has a long way to go to contend for the Big Ten championship.
There were some strong performances for the Boilermakers.
Purdue’s Kaersten Meitz won the women’s 500 freestyle (4:47.82) and 1,000 freestyle (9:55.65) and Nicolas McDowell won the men’s race (9:18.71) and 500 in 4:30.75.
Marat Amaltdinov won the 100 breaststroke (55.39) and the 200 breaststroke (1:58.28)
Minnesota keeps building
The Golden Gophers look to be taking all the right steps early in the season. They have their work cut out for them in a loaded Big Ten, but they are looking like they will play a huge factor in the conference.
The Minnesota men defeated Iowa 185.5 to 113.5 Friday night in Minneapolis. The Gophers won 14 of 16 events.
The Minnesota women’s swimming and diving team beat Iowa 186-114 on Saturday.
Northwestern men bond with road trip
The Northwestern men took two losses this weekend, but in a road trip to ACC country, learned a lot in losses to North Carolina State and Duke.
Trips like this bond teams like nothing else can and that will pay dividends down the road. =Jordan Wilimovksy set a Duke pool record in the 1,000 free with a time of 9:04.24 in Northwestern’s 185-110 loss.
Northwestern freshman looking strong
The Northwestern women are quietly 5-0 and are led by freshman Valerie Gruest Slowing, who continued her strong start to the 2016 campaign, picking up three wins for the second-straight week. She won the 1,000 free by two seconds with a time of 10:08.01 then turned around to win the 200 free with a time of 1:50.94. She finished her day with a win in the 500 free, touching the wall in 4:54.02.
