July 20, 2010

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's swimming and diving team is set to welcome the 10th-best freshman class in the nation, according to collegeswimming.com rankings released Tuesday.

"(Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator) J (Agnew), (head diving coach) Adam (Soldati) and I are thrilled for these guys to be recognized for their achievements in swimming thus far," head coach Dan Ross said. "Hopefully in four years, they'll be written about as having moved Purdue into the top 10 perennially at the NCAA Championships."

Purdue, fresh off back-to-back 13th-place showings at the NCAA Championships and two straight fourth-place finishes at the Big Ten Championships, continued that momentum on the recruiting trail and grabbed the second-highest ranked class in the conference. The Boilermakers' 2010 signees hail from seven different states stretching from one coast to the other and one foreign country, showing the extent of Ross' reach.

Alec Back is the lone diver of the group set to join the prestigious Boilermaker corps. The Portage, Ind., native finished third at the 2010 state championship meet. Back leaves Portage High School holding school records in both the six-dive and 11-dive competitions. An accomplished student as well, Back earned membership into the World Language Honor Society for his work in the classroom.

Matt Friede brings a wealth of accomplishment to Purdue's sprinting corps. The Reedsburg, Wis., native capped his Sauk Prairie High School career with a state-record swim of 20.44 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle to win his second straight state title in the event. Friede also won the 100 freestyle in 45.01 and anchored the state champion 200 medley relay team as a senior. For his career, he won seven state championships while setting three state records and earning eight All-America honors. Friede also was named to the 2008-09 Scholastic All-American Team and voted his team's MVP his final two seasons.

Eduard Galdeano is the first international signee for the Boilermakers since Ilia Ayzenshtok joined Purdue's team midway through the 2006-07 season. Galdeano, from Tarragona, Spain, holds the Spanish national record in the 200-meter butterfly, an event in which he claimed a national title in April, with his personal-best time of 1:58.85. Galdeano also holds Spain's under 17 national record in the 100 butterfly and was selected as a member of the national team.

Phil Geerdes is heading to West Lafayette from the west coast. The Valley Center, Calif., native also looks to bolster the Boilermaker sprinters. He holds the San Diego record in the 100-meter freestyle at 52.20 and attended the short-course national meet last December. In August of 2009, Geerdes placed ninth in the 50-meter freestyle at Junior Nationals with his time of 23.40. He also finished sixth in the event as a 16 year old to garner age-group recognition. Geerdes is the second member of his family to swim collegiately, joining sister Sarah, who is a rising junior at the University of San Diego.

Brian Kiel brings a hefty bag of accolades with him to West Lafayette. The Rochester, Minn., native broke 20 state records during his prep career and finished as his age group's highest point scorer at both the short-course and long-course state meets all four years. He also set a junior national meet record and twice nabbed top three finishes at Grand Prix. Kiel won the 200-yard backstroke at the 2010 Minnesota Senior Championships with a time of 1:46.25 and took second in the 100 backstroke in 48.64. He also could contribute in the IM events, with career-best times of 1:47.41 at 200 yards and 3:51.59 in the 400-yard distance.

Jacob McGough is Purdue's second newcomer from the state of California. The Fresno native earned High School All-America honors in the 200-yard IM and the 100 butterfly. He helped Clovis West High School earn CIF Central Section championships in 2008 and 2009 by advancing to the finals at that meet. McGough also brings a bevy of smarts to the West Lafayette campus, as evidenced by his Academic All-America selection. He boasts career-best times of 1:50.49 in the 200 butterfly and 4:01.35 in the 400 IM.

Luke Trimmer comes in to bolster Purdue's middle-distance freestyle group. The Lewisberry, Penn., native qualified for the state meet his final three years at Red Land High School and finished third in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events as a senior. Trimmer was named the Carlisle Sentinel Male Swimmer of the Year in 2010 and earned All-America acclaim in the 200 and 500 freestyles. He currently holds best times of 1:40.40 in the 200 freestyle and 4:31.38 in the 500 freestyle. For his work in the classroom, Trimmer was named to USA Swimming's Scholastic All-America Team for 2009-10.

Danny Tucker excelled in two sports at Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Ill. The sprint freestyle swimmer also spent four years on the Redhawks' water polo team, which finished third in the state his junior season and was captained by him as a senior. His senior year, he helped his swim team claim its first state title since 2002 by anchoring the victorious 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays and finishing third in the 50 freestyle. At the 2010 NCA Junior National meet, Tucker placed third in the 50 freestyle with his time of 20.50 and put up a lifetime-best clocking of 45.59 in the 100 freestyle.

Steven Ung is traveling the farthest of all of Purdue's domestic signees. The Beaverton, Ore., native set a national age-group record in 2009 as part of the 400-meter medley relay and won numerous national age-group awards. At the high school level, Ung won the 50-yard freestyle in 20.67 and the 100 freestyle in 45.13 at the Oregon 6A State Championships. He was named an All-American by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) three times. Ung also was voted team MVP his final two seasons and led Westview High School to a state title in 2009.

Michigan topped the national rankings and is the only Big Ten program ahead of Purdue, while Auburn, Southern California, Stanford and Virginia rounded out the top five. Ohio State, Iowa, Indiana and Northwestern are the next conference programs behind the Boilermakers, checking in at 16-19, respectively, and Minnesota's class is ranked 24th to give the Big Ten seven of the top 25 classes.

Each member of Purdue's class is set to enroll in the fall semester and join the Boilermakers for the 2010-11 campaign.

To read collegeswimming.com's assesment of Purdue's incoming freshmen and to see the entire top 25, click here.

Purdue Boilermakers