Illinois swim and dive traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana, to compete against the Purdue Boilermakers, ultimately falling 188-111.

Coming off a tough loss at home against Nebraska, the team was motivated to continue growing to finish the season.

The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay, where juniors Athena Salafatinos and Divya Kale, senior Abby Cabush and freshman Molly Yetter secured second place, while sophomore Lauren Bludgen, junior Mariclaire Lynch and freshmen Sydney Stoll and Logan Kuehne placed third.

Next up, sophomore Cara Bognar placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, giving the Illini their first win of the meet. Bognar later went on to place second in the 200-yard butterfly.

Cabush continued to show her dominance in freestyle events, finishing in first place in both her individual events, the 100 and 200-yard freestyle.

Many Illini swimmers also recorded lifetime and college bests, with junior Jeanri Buys recording a lifetime best in the 1,000 freestyle.

Junior Lizzie Gile, sophomore Meghan Niziolek and Stoll all recorded college bests in the 200-yard freestyle, 1,000-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, respectively.

“It’s great to be able to watch the team grow throughout the season,” Salafatinos said. “We’re still improving and getting better than at the beginning of the year.”

While the improvements were showing some positive results, the Illini fell short of multiple first-place finishes.

In the 50-yard freestyle, junior Isabella Guerra came up 0.11 seconds short of first behind Purdue freshman standout Hannah Hill. 

Guerra also came up 0.29 seconds behind Purdue’s Lindsay Turner in the 100-yard butterfly, and Stoll was 0.41 seconds short of securing the 200-yard individual medley for Illinois.

“We still need improvement on many of the details and technical things about swimming,” Salafatinos said. “We unfortunately still trip up on them when it comes to meets.”

The results proved damaging for the Illini, with Purdue winning the meet, 188-111. Illinois falls to 5-4 on the season and 1-3 in conference action.

While not the result Illinois wanted, the level of competitiveness shows promise at the conclusion of a long regular season.

“The culture has improved a lot; we’re more motivated than in previous years,” Salafatinos said. “People are stepping up and cheering each other on, staying motivated and trying to really succeed as a team, getting points and dropping times.”

The team camaraderie will be crucial as Illinois swimming begins training for the 2022 Big Ten Championships, which start on Feb. 16. The Illini will look to move up in their conference after finishing 12th last season. 

“Everyone is excited to compete and be able to see fans and their families cheering them on,” Salafatinos said.

While the swimming team trains, the diving team will travel to Chicago to take part in the UIC Diving Invitational on Feb. 5, officially ending the regular season for both Illinois swim and dive.

See the Purdue meet results and times here.

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