courtesy of Purdue Athletics
Hosting the three-day Purdue Invitational for the fourth season in a row and January home meets vs. Kentucky and Notre Dame as well as Senior Day vs. Indiana headline Purdue Swimming & Diving’s 2024-25 schedules.
The Boilermakers have five home meets on their schedules, including the home-opening Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate on Saturday, Oct. 12. Annually held on a Saturday in October, it features teams of all NCAA divisions from all across the state as the largest home meet of the fall. It was renamed in honor of Purdue’s longtime head coach in the summer of 2023, about a month after Ross retired and closed out a 42-year coaching career.
Along with Indiana, Kentucky and Notre Dame, the Boilermakers are slated to compete against Missouri, Minnesota, Northwestern, the Illinois women and the Rutgers women at regular-season dual meets. Kentucky and Notre Dame will visit West Lafayette on Jan. 10 for a Friday afternoon triple dual to begin the spring semester half of the schedule. The Irish have not competed at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center for dual meet action since October 2017 and the Wildcats will be making their first dual appearance at the facility.
The three-day, six-session Purdue Invitational (Nov. 21-23) is being held for a fourth consecutive year, extending the longest streak in midseason showcase’s 20-year history. It’s held Thursday morning through Saturday evening the weekend before Thanksgiving, featuring all 21 events contested at the conference and national championship meets in February and March.
The Boilermakers are set to host the Purdue Invitational for the 12th time as a co-ed meet since the Burke Aquatic Center opened in August 2001. It was also held in November of 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 after debuting as a men’s only meet in November 2003. Either the Purdue men (2021 and 2022) or Purdue women (2023) have won the meet during the current yearly hosting streak.
The Boilermakers are slated to open their season in the state of Michigan for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign. Purdue has signed on to compete at the Be Better Invitational on Friday, Oct. 4. This year the meet will be contested at the Holland Aquatic Center in Holland, Mich., the hometown of the late Ian Miskelley, a former University of Michigan swimmer. The meet was founded in the fall of 2022 and contested in Grand Rapids (2022) and Ann Arbor (2023) the first two years, featuring Hope College, Calvin University, Davenport University and the Wolverines. It is held as a benefit meet supporting the Be Better Foundation, which was started by Miskelley’s parents after his death in 2020. The Be Better Foundation seeks to promote mental health awareness.
The Purdue men will make two trips to the Twin Cities about a month apart, visiting Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center for the co-ed Big Ten Triple Duals (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) and men’s Big Ten Championships (Feb. 26-March 1). Ohio State hosts the women’s Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22) this season, a year after the men’s meet was held in Columbus.
The annual USA Diving Winter Nationals will also be held in a familiar Big Ten locale this season as Indiana’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center serves as the host of the championship showcase for the first time since 2021.
The NCAA Championships are slated to be held in the Pacific Northwest at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash. The suburban Seattle facility previously hosted the men’s national championship meet in 2008 and 2012. The women’s meet will be held there for the first time.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
• Home Meets: 5 (4 Co-Ed)
• Season Opener: Michigan’s Be Better Invitational (Oct. 4 in Holland, Mich.)
• Home Opener: Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate (Oct. 12)
• Senior Day: Annual Rivalry Dual vs. Indiana (Jan. 25)
• Purdue Invitational on the schedule for the fourth year in a row, fifth time since 2019 (Nov. 21-23)
• Co-Ed Triple Dual at Home: Boilermakers host Kentucky & Notre Dame (Jan. 10)
• Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate: Boilermakers host schools from around the state for large Saturday meet (Oct. 12)
CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
• Big Ten Championships: Women at Ohio State (Feb. 19-22), Men at Minnesota (Feb. 26-March 1)
• Zone C Diving Championships: Location of co-ed NCAA Championships qualifier still TBA (Projected March 12-15)
• CSCAA National Invitational Championships: Co-ed national showcase back in Central Florida (March 13-15 in Ocala, Fla.)
• NCAA Championships: Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash., hosts Women (March 19-22) & Men (March 26-29)
NATIONALS DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON
• USA Swimming’s Toyota U.S. Open: Selected men race in Greensboro, N.C. (Dec. 4-7)
• USA Diving Winter Nationals: Annual end of year showcase in Bloomington, Ind. (Dec. 7-15)
• CSCAA Open Water Championships: Selected women race outdoors in South Florida (Dec. 15)
MORE ROAD TRIPS
• Home & Home with Missouri Continues: Oct. 25 in Columbia
• Minnesota Hosts Two-Day Big Ten Triple Duals: Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in the Twin Cities (also featuring Northwestern)
• More Big Ten Duals for the Women: Nov. 8 at Rutgers, Jan. 11 at Illinois
2024 DAN ROSS INDIANA INTERCOLLEGIATE FIELD (More TBA)
• Co-Ed: Purdue, Butler, IU Indy, Southern Indiana, Valparaiso, Rose-Hulman
• Purdue Invitational Field Currently TBA
ALL HOME MEETS
• Oct. 12: Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate
• Nov. 21-23: Purdue Invitational
• Jan. 10: Triple Dual vs. Kentucky & Notre Dame
• Jan. 25: Senior Day vs. Indiana
• March 1-2: Women’s Boiler-Make-It NCAA Last Chance
Why is the picture for this article of the swim club and not of the actual intercollegiate swim team?
…updated…
You know its bad when the club gets more recognition