PURDUE SWIMMER DANNY TUCKER WINS 100m FREE AT U.S. OPEN
IRVINE,
Calif. – Danny Tucker of Purdue men’s swimming and diving won the
100m freestyle national championship while breaking the program’s long
course record twice on the opening day of the U.S. Open Tuesday at the
William Wollett, Jr. Aquatics Center.
Tucker became the
Boilermakers’ first U.S. Open champion as well as the first Purdue
swimmer to eclipse the 50-second mark in the 100m free. He posted two
of the three fastest times of the day in the event, initially breaking
the program’s LCM record with a time 49.26 in the preliminaries. He
came back in the finals with a time of 49.11 to win the A final and
national championship.
USA Swimming hosts the U.S. Open yearly
in late July/early August. This year’s meet is being contested
outdoors. As an open competition, any American swimmer can qualify for
the U.S. Open by achieving a qualification cut time at a sanctioned
long course meters meet. Over 100 swimmers raced in the 100m freestyle
Tuesday.
Tucker’s 100m free qualifying time ranked 17th entering
the U.S. Open. He won heat 11 Tuesday morning with the top prelim time
of the day. Only Daxon Hill’s finals time of 49.17 while finishing as
the runner-up bested Tucker’s prelim time.
A rising senior from
Naperville, Ill., Tucker is one of 14 Boilers competing at the U.S.
Open this week. He won the 50m and 100m free at the Indiana Senior
State meet held at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center July 18-21. His
qualifying time in the 50m free ranked 10th entering the U.S. Open. The
50m free is set for Saturday as the final event of the meet. Tucker is
also scheduled to race as part of Purdue’s 4x100 (400m) free relay
Wednesday evening.
Danny Conway (200 fly), Matt Friede (100
free), Nate Hopkins (1500 free), Carly Mercer (100 free) and Rhiannon
Sheets (200 fly) along with the women’s 4x100 free relay team also
raced Tuesday. Mercer finished one spot shy of qualifying for the C
final of the 100m free, placing 25th overall in the prelims.
The 4x100 free relay team of Alex Todd, Kylie Vogel, Mercer and Sheets placed fifth in its heat.
Tucker
was the runner-up in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at the 2013 Big Ten
Championships. He qualified for the NCAA Championships in both events
and also raced on the Boilers’ 200 and 400 freestyle and 200 medley
relays at NCAAs. He earned Honorable Mention All-America acclaim with
the 200 free relay team for the second year in a row.
At the
2013 Big Ten Championships, Tucker also broke the Purdue short court
yardage record in the 100 free twice. After initially eclipsing the
mark in the prelims, he lowered it again in the finals (42.84). He also
posted the second-fastest time in program history in the 50 free
(19.35).
Long course events are commonplace at national and
international meets and feature 50-meter lengths of the pool. The NCAA
season features short course yardage events and 25-yard lengths of the
pool.
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