Purdue University Men's Swimming

Ross, a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, completed his 31st season as head coach of the Purdue men's swimming and diving team and his 39th year of association with Boilermaker aquatics during the 2015-16 school year. He is the longest-tenured of all 16 Purdue head coaches and is also the dean of Big Ten swim coaches. Ross has earned three Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, which is tied for the third-highest total in conference history. The first award came in 1988, the second in 1997 and the third, and most meaningful, in 2009 following a season in which wife Sally overcame a battle with breast cancer and Purdue tied the highest Big Ten finish in program history. With an all-time dual meet record of 190-143, Ross ranks as the winningest coach in the program's history. Purdue has scored at the NCAA Championships for 21 consecutive years, finishing among the top 25 at the national championship meet in nine of the last 12 seasons. Eight NCAA diving titles since 2009, six won by 2012 Olympic gold medalist David Boudia, have also brought a new level of excellence to the program. Honorable Mention All-America accolades for freshman divers Joe Cifelli and Max Showalter along with Marat Amaltdinov's Big Ten title in the 200 breaststroke highlighted the 2015-16 season. Divers Steele Johnson and Boudia also qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games and Purdue was represented by 15 men at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials (10 swimmers, 5 divers). Amaltdinov would have been seeded third in the 200 breast at the NCAA Championships, but opted to forgo his berth at NCAAs in order to train for the Russian Olympic Trials. The sophomore finished ninth in the 200 breast at the Russian Trials, which Ross was was able to attend in person. Amaltdinov's conference title in a program- and pool-record time highlighted the Boilermaker Aquatic Center serving as the host of the Big Ten Championships for the first time since 2009. He became the fifth Purdue swimmer to win a Big Ten breaststroke title under Ross. With Lyam Dias also winning the 200 breast title in 2015, the Boilermakers had a Big Ten champion in consecutive years for the first time since 2004 and 2005. Two NCAA diving titles for Steele Johnson and Dias claiming the program's first Big Ten title in a swimming event since 2009 highlighted the 2014-15 season. Johnson and Dias were among the four the Boilermakers to score at the national championship meet as Purdue finished in 17th place in the team scoring with 75 points. It was the program's top showing since 2011. A month earlier at the Big Ten Championships, Dias' victory in the 200 breaststroke highlighted a thrilling final day in which the Boilers held off Wisconsin and Minnesota to finish fourth in the team scoring. The fourth-place showing matched the best in program history, a spot Purdue also finished in 1988, 1997, 2009 and 2010 during Ross's tenure as head coach (1985-86 to present). The Boilermakers were unranked entering Big Tens but still managed to outscore four top-25 teams. All-America honors for four Boilermakers along with nine new program records highlighted the 2013-14 season for Purdue. The Boilermakers were represented by 10 student-athletes -- six swimmers and four divers -- at the 2014 NCAAs. Dias garnered Honorable Mention All-America acclaim in the 200 breaststroke, Purdue's first swimmer recognized in an individual event since 2010. He graduated as the program record holder in both breaststroke events. During his career at Purdue, Ross has coached 17 individual Big Ten champions and one conference champion relay team. He also has led 23 swimmers to NCAA All-America acclaim and overseen several international competitors, including a streak that included placing at least one swimmer in three straight Olympic Games beginning with the 1996 Olympiad in Atlanta and continuing through the 2004 Games in Athens. Ross also has seen his athletes advance to the World Championships, Open Water Championships, World University Games, Southeast Asian Games, Pan American Games, Pan Pacific Games and Maccabi Games. In the summer of 2013, Danny Tucker won the 100m freestyle at the U.S. Open in Southern California, becoming the program's first USA Swimming national champion. Matt Friede and Tucker closed out their careers in the spring of 2014 as three-time NCAA Championships qualifiers. Friede was named the male Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient for all of Purdue athletics. The Boilermakers' 200 freestyle relay team in 2013 garnered Honorable Mention All-America recognition for the second year in a row by qualifying for the consolation final at NCAAs. While taking third in the consolation final, the 200 free relay team of Chuck Destro, Friede, Tucker and Benjamin Ziolkowski placed 11th nationally. Friede, Tucker and Ziolkowski were part of the quartet for the second year in a row. Divers Layne Rogers and Jamie Bissett also scored at the national championship meet. The record-setting 200 freestyle relay team that earned Honorable Mention All-America recognition at the NCAA Championships and five other new program benchmarks highlighted the 2011-12 season. Ten swimmers also represented the Boilers at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha. Ben Wachtel, Friede, Tucker and Ziolkowski teamed up to post a time of 1:17.71 in a one-chance time trial opportunity at the Big Ten Championships, eclipsing the school record and earning a berth in the NCAA Championships. It was the Boilers' first qualifying relay since 2006. At the national championship meet in suburban Seattle, the quartet placed 13th in preliminaries to advance to the consolation final and earn Honorable Mention All-America recognition. Led by All-American performances from divers Boudia, Danny Cox and J.P. Perez in Minneapolis, the Boilermakers finished 16th at the NCAA Championships with 88 teams points. Purdue was third among the Big Ten Conference programs that scored at the national championship meet. All three Boilers qualified for the championship final of platform diving, a rare feat that Purdue would duplicate again in 2015. The Boilermakers won the seven-team 2010 Purdue Invitational in West Lafayette, outscoring nationally-ranked Ohio State and Louisville among others. At the Big Ten Quad at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center the final weekend of January, Purdue posted its first dual-meet scoring victory against Minnesota since 1988. Boudia capped his college career by sweeping the springboard diving titles for the second year in a row. He was also runner-up in the platform, with Cox and Perez qualifying for the finals as well. As a rare accomplishment in the history of diving at the 2011 NCAA Championships, it was the first time in Purdue history that three divers reached the finals of the same event on the national stage. The Boilermakers once again tied the program's highest finish at the Big Ten Championships in 2010 with a fourth-place showing, matching their placing in 2009. That marked the first time since 1947-51 Purdue finished fourth in consecutive seasons. The team also earned its second straight 13th-place finish at the NCAA Championships for the first consecutive top-13 finishes since 1945-52. The 2009-10 season in the pool was highlighted by Sam Wilcher. The senior capped his career by breaking the Purdue 200 butterfly record, which he had held since his sophomore season, twice at the NCAA Championships. Wilcher eventually lowered the record to 1:43.82 and finished 11th for honorable-mention All-America status. Wilcher also broke the record at the Big Ten Championships, where he finished third and completed a career sweep of scoring in both the 100 and 200 butterfly at all four conference championship meets. The 2008-09 season saw Andrew Langenfeld's 19.34 clocking in the 50 freestyle give him the Big Ten title, the Doris Z. Holloway Pool record and made him the fastest swimmer in conference history. Langenfeld also advanced to the NCAA Championships, where he was a competitor in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Ross was rewarded for placing so many athletes in international competitions when he served as an assistant on Dennis Dale's staff at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. Dale named Ross an assistant coach along with Northwestern's Bob Groseth and Ohio State's Bill Wadley. Ross was joined at the World University Games by Boilermakers Romain Maire, Amanda Miller, Giordan Pogioli, Zach Schultz and Adam and Kimiko Soldati. Ross also attended the 2015 World University Games in South Korea to help mentor Marat Amaltdinov, who competed in the 200-meter breaststroke for Russia. Ross also has been able to establish a program known for its academic excellence. He encourages a balance between school, swimming and social activities in all his swimmers' lives. Because of that balance, Ross has produced CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and CSCAA Scholar All-Americans. That lists includes: Brian Daly (1993), Dean Fredette (1994), Matt Brown (1997), Louis Paul (2005) and Jamie Bissett (2014 and 2015). Giordan Pogioli (2005-06) and Jamie Bissett (2013-15) also earned consecutive CoSIDA Academic All-District honors over the last decade. Ross also has mentored over a dozen CSCAA Scholar All-America and honorable-mention selections, as well as numerous Big Ten Distinguished Scholars and even more Academic All-Big Ten student-athletes. He has also coached six Big Ten Medal of Honor winners in Daly (1992), Brown (1997), Kovacs (1999), Paul (2005), Pogioli (2006) and Friede (2014). Ross's teams have been regularly presented with the school's "25/85" award. Men's swimming and diving was honored because it finished among the national Top 25 during the athletic year while maintaining a cumulative grade-point average that met or exceeded expectations over four consecutive semesters, thereby supporting Purdue's goal of reaching an 85-percent graduation rate. Ross' involvement with Purdue swimming and diving began in 1977, when he walked on to the swim team. He competed in the individual medley and middle distance freestyle events. In 1980, Ross received the Most Improved Swimmer Award and was named team co-captain in 1981. After graduating, Ross continued at Purdue in a quarter-time position during the 1981-82 season and then served as a half-time assistant coach the next year. He was given the full-time assistant position from 1983 to 1985, and in 1985 he landed the head coaching position. A native of North Augusta, S.C., Ross earned a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology from Purdue in 1984. He is married to the former Sally Johnson, also a Purdue graduate, who was a Boilermaker swimmer and a two-event Big Ten champion in 1980. Sally is a coach and administrator for Boilermaker Aquatics, West Lafayette's local USA Swimming club. The Ross family, which also includes sons Eric, Matt and Andy, resides in West Lafayette. All three sons went on to swim competitively in college after growing up around the Purdue program.

Soldati was named men's Big Ten Coach of the Year again and men's national Coach of the Year for the fourth time since 2009. Along with being a four-time men's NCAA Diving Coach of the Year, he is a seven-time winner of Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year. He has won the conference award five times with the men and twice with the women. In 2012, Soldati helped coach David Boudia to two medals at the Olympic Games in London. Boudia would win two more medals four years later at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Boudia won gold on 10-meter in 2012, Team USA's first Olympic gold medal in the men's event since Greg Louganis in 1988. Boudia and Nick McCrory teamed up to win Team USA's first Olympic medal (bronze) ever in men's synchronized 10-meter diving. The gold-medal performance earned Boudia USA Diving Athlete of the Year honors, while Soldati was named USA Diving's National Coach of the Year. Soldati guided Boudia to his third Olympic Games in 2016 and they were joined by fellow Boilermaker Steele Johnson this time. The duo claimed Team USA's Olympic bid in synchronized 10-meter and also finished one-two on 10-meter individually to sweep the available Olympic berths. Boudia and Johnson went on to win silver together in Rio, the USA's top individual showing in the event since it was added to the Olympic program in 2000. Boudia also took home bronze individually on 10-meter, becoming the first American man to medal in the event in consecutive Olympics since Louganis (1984-88). Soldati was named the assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Diving Team at the 2016 Games. With seven Boilermakers competing, Purdue was represented in the finals of every event in which it had an entry at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. In 2016, Purdue's first divers were also inducted to intercollegiate athletics hall of fame. Carrie (McCambridge) Karkoska and Boudia both excelled under Soldati's tutelage and were honored as Purdue hall of famers in the fall of 2016. At the 2015 NCAA Championships, Soldati guided Johnson (as a freshman) to national titles on 1-meter and platform. Johnson became the first diver since Boudia in 2009 to win NCAA titles on a springboard and the platform in the same year. Boudia and Johnson train together at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center and will represented USA Diving at the FINA World Championships in Russia in the summer of 2015 after winning the 10-meter synchro title at the inaugural USA Diving Synchronized Nationals Championships. In both 2011 and 2015, three Purdue divers qualified for the championship final of platform diving at the NCAA Championships. Jamie Bissett capped his college career with All-America honors on platform in 2015, coupling that award with First Team Academic All-America accolades. The 3-meter champion at Diving Canada's 2015 Winter Nationals became Purdue's first male athlete since quarterback Drew Brees (in 2000) to be a First Team All-American athletically and academically in the same year. When Johnson was named the Purdue Male Athlete of the Year at end of the 2014-15 school year, he became the fifth diver to be honored since 2005. A diver has been among Purdue's Athletes of the Year five times in a seven-year span from 2009 to 2015. Honorable Mention All-America accolades for freshmen Joe Cifelli and Max Showalter highlighted the 2015-16 collegiate season. Together they helped Purdue score at NCAAs for the 21st straight year and joined a list of seven Purdue divers to qualify for the NCAA Championships as freshmen. The Boilermakers were represented by at least one diver at the Men's NCAA Championships for the 12th time in the last 13 years, all but 2012. Purdue has claimed at least one All-America honor in a diving event every year it has had a representative since 2005. Soldati was recognized as one of the finalists for the United States Olympic Committee's 2011 and 2012 National Coach of the Year awards. CaptainU.com named Soldati its National Diving Coach of the Year in 2014. Seven of the nine Boilermakers competing at the 2014 Zone C Championships earned bids to the national championship meets. There were approximately 90 divers competing at the Zone C Championships. Ten percent (nine) were Boilermakers, yet Purdue managed to claim 41 percent (7 of 17) of the NCAA Championships berths available in Zone C. Four men's divers qualified for the first time since sending five to the national championship meet in 2010. Three women's divers qualified for the first time since 2009. At the 2014 NCAA Championships, five Purdue divers earned All-America honors and scored team points. Michelle Cabassol closed out her career with 3-meter All-America acclaim after finishing fourth in the championship final for the second year in a row. Layne Rogers (3-meter), MacKenzie Tweardy (platform), Jamie Bissett (3-meter Honorable Mention) and Nate Cox (platform Honorable Mention) also advanced out of the prelims. Casey Matthews was the 2014 women's Big Ten champion from the 1-meter springboard. She also helped Soldati's divers win nine medals at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December 2013. Four Purdue divers qualified for the 2013 NCAA Championships, highlighted by Matthews' winning the national title in women's 3-meter diving. She is now a five-time All-American. Bissett, Cabassol and Rogers also took home All-America honors in their first appearances at the NCAA Championships. Boudia was selected the NCAA Diver of the Year by the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America for the third year in a row in 2011. He finished his career with six NCAA national titles, one shy of the Troy Dumais' all-time record, after winning a pair at each of his three appearances at the national championship meet. In the summer of 2011, Boudia became the first American male since 1986 to medal in the 10-meter platform at the FINA World Championships, winning silver in China. He was also selected as the Jesse Owens Male Big Ten Athlete of the Year, becoming the first diver to win the award and just the second Purdue male student-athlete. A program-record three divers scoring in the platform competition at the NCAA Championships and two more national titles for Boudia highlighted the 2010-11 season. In July 2011, Soldati traveled to China with Boudia to serve as an assistant coach for USA Diving at the World Championships. Among the women in 2011, Erin Mertz scored from all three boards at NCAAs, highlighted by a career-best third-place showing in the 3-meter competition that earned the senior All-American honors. She and fellow senior Kara Cook both garnered Honorable Mention All-American recognition in the platform. At the Big Ten Championships, Boudia swept the three diving events for the second time in his career. He became the first athlete to accomplish that feat twice since platform diving was added to the meet in 1988. Boudia was named Big Ten Diver of the Championships and Diver of the Year for the third consecutive year. He finished his college career with eight Big Ten diving titles. Boudia won 30 of the 31 events he entered during the 2010-11 school year. He was named Big Ten Diver of the Week a conference-record nine times, increasing his career mark of weekly honors to 20. Among Boudia's 30 victories were national titles at the USA Diving Winter Nationals the first week of February. He teamed with Duke's Nick McCrory to win the synchronized platform and also captured the 10-meter platform title in the final competition of the week. Boudia continued his dominance on the boards in 2010, bringing back two Big Ten titles and two more NCAA crowns. His 1-meter victory at the NCAA Championships made him the first diver ever to win at least one national title from each of the three boards. Boudia then defended his 3-meter title with a meet-record score of 494.90. His four career national championship trophies rank ninth on the all-time list, trailing only record-holder Troy Dumais' total of seven and a seven-way tie for second with five. Junior David Colturi added another Big Ten title to the record books as he finished first in the 1-meter. Colturi scored 442.00 points to break the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion record and claim his first conference title. In addition to the titles won, Purdue's depth was clearly evident at both championship meets. At the men's NCAA Championships, four divers earn All-America acclaim, while at the women's national championship meet two more certificates were made out to Purdue divers. At the men's Big Ten Championships, all six divers scored from all three boards to add 219 points to Purdue's team total. On the women's side, the Boilermakers grabbed 105 points, including a 2-3-4 finish in the platform, with only three divers scoring. Only Indiana, which brought seven divers, scored more points in the diving events. Both record books have been completely rewritten under Soldati. All 30 positions on the men's all-time Top 10 list for the three boards are occupied by divers that were coached by Soldati. Soldati believes that success in the collegiate ranks is only the first step for his student-athletes. Not only does Soldati want his divers aspiring to become conference champions and All-Americans, he wants them to see the bigger picture -- the Olympics. And Soldati has the experience to get them there. The Purdue diving program was recognized as a Center of Excellence by USA Diving for 2010. Boudia and Matthews were named to the Olympic Performance Squad, which identified the 20 best American divers to give them all possible advantages leading into the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Matthews earned inclusion to her first international team in February with a fourth-place finish off the platform at the USA Diving Winter National Championships. Boudia, who contested the platform and synchronized platform disciplines at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, added to his international resume during the break from NCAA competition. He teamed with Nick McCrory to take gold in the synchronized platform at the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix before joining Haley Ishimatsu to win the team event at the FINA Diving World Cup, a meet at which Soldati was Team USA's head coach, in Changzhou, China. The latter gold was the first for the U.S. in World Cup competition on Chinese soil since 1985. Boudia then became the first American to top 600 points in a six-dive platform list when he scored 605.40 while winning the event at the AT&T National Diving Championships. Included in that score was a 111.00 total on a 109C that broke the American record for a single dive. The scores bettered records he had set in February at the USA Diving Winter National Championships. At the same championships, Kara Cook finished second in the women's platform with her score of 330.45. Prior to his arrival at Purdue, Soldati worked with Olympic gold-medal coach Kenny Armstrong at the USA Diving National Training Center outside Houston. During his tenure, Soldati worked side-by-side with several Olympians, including Laura Wilkinson, Troy and Justin Dumais, Justin Wilcox, and Kimiko Soldati. As head coach for the Woodlands Diving national team, Soldati guided three divers (J.J. Kinzbach, Harrison Jones and Jessica Livingston) to the finals of the 2004 Olympic Trials and five divers (Kinzbach, Jones, Drew Livingston, Jessica Livingston and Whitney Wielgus) to Senior Nationals. Kinzbach also qualified for the U.S. National Team. Soldati finished the summer taking Kinzbach and Jones to the Junior World Championships. Following his graduation from Indiana University in 1997, Soldati founded Indiana Diving and Youth Development while serving as the Hoosiers' assistant coach and diving events director. Both programs succeeded at the highest levels with his involvement. From June 1997 to January 2000, Soldati's club program advanced six athletes to the U.S. Senior National Diving Championships, plus four finalists and eight athletes to the U.S. Junior National Championships and earned one national championship. At the same time, he was helping his Hoosiers win three consecutive national diving titles from 1998 to 2000. Soldati is married to Kimiko Hirai Soldati, who was a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Diving Team. The couple has six children -- sons, Blake and Isaac, as well as daughters Maiya and Emiko. They welcomed twins Noah (boy) and Rylie (girl) to the family in January 2014.

Agnew's tenure on deck has been one of the most successful stretches in Purdue history. In 2009, 2010 and 2015, the Boilermakers tied their highest Big Ten finish by placing fourth. The 2009 and 2010 teams posted Purdue's first set of consecutive fourth-place finishes since 1947-51. During his tenure, Boilermakers have broken a school record 29 times and taken down a freshman record 22 times. Agnew also has shown to be more than capable of finding top talent and bringing the best swimmers from around the country to West Lafayette. His recruiting classes to date -- which include swimmers from more than a dozen different states, Canada, Croatia, Russia, Spain, Slovenia and Poland -- have been responsible for a USA Swimming national title at the U.S. Open, more than 60 scoring finishes at the Big Ten Championships, 16 freshman records, 13 school records and one U.S. Open Water 5K crown. The 2010 class was ranked 10th in the country by collegeswimming.com. The 2014 class was tabbed 12th nationally by SwimSwam.com. Six swimmers qualified for both the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Championships. Guillermo Blanco and Lyam Dias both qualified for three individual events as seniors in 2015. Marat Amaltdinov became Purdue's first freshman swimmer to qualify via an individual event since 2006. Amaltdinov won the 200 breaststroke title at the 2016 Big Ten Championships, but opted to forgo his spot at the NCAA Championships in order to train for the Russian Olympic Trials. The Purdue men were represented by 10 Boilermakers at 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. In recent seasons numerous Boilers have earned berths at the NCAA Championships three years in a row, including Matt Friede and Danny Tucker in 2014. Along with establishing new records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, Dias became the program's first individual All-American in a swimming event since 2010. After winning the 200 breast at the 2015 Big Ten Championships to become Purdue's first conference champ since 2009, Dias again earned All-America accolades at NCAAs. At the 2014 Classic @ SMU, Blanco broke a Purdue record in the 400 IM that had stood since 2007. He was named the MVP of that prestigious meet and went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Blanco graduated as the program record holder in the 200 IM as well. In 2013, the Boilers' 200 freestyle relay team garnered Honorable Mention All-America recognition for the second year in a row by qualifying for the consolation final at NCAAs. While taking third in the consolation final, the 200 free relay team of Chuck Destro, Friede, Tucker and Benjamin Ziolkowski -- all Agnew recruits -- placed 11th nationally. Friede, Tucker and Ziolkowski were part of the quartet for the second year in a row. Tucker also competed individually at NCAAs after finishing as the runner up in the 50 and 100 free at Big Tens. He was named Second Team All-Big Ten and broke the program record in the 100 free twice at Big Tens, finishing the finals race in 42.84. His 50 free time of 19.35 was just one hundredth of a second shy of the program record. Tucker went on to win the 100m free at the 2013 U.S. Open in Southern California. The record-setting 200 freestyle relay team that earned Honorable Mention All-America recognition and five other new program benchmarks highlighted the 2011-12 season for Purdue. Ben Wachtel, Friede, Tucker and Ziolkowski teamed up to post a time of 1:17.71 in a one-chance time trial opportunity at the Big Ten Championships, eclipsing the school record and earning a berth at NCAAs. At the national championship meet, the quartet placed 13th in preliminaries to earn Honorable Mention All-America acclaim. Ten swimmers also represented the program at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha. The 2009-10 season in the pool was highlighted by Sam Wilcher. The senior capped his career by breaking the Purdue 200 butterfly record, which he had held since his sophomore season, twice at the NCAA Championships. Wilcher eventually lowered the record to 1:43.82 and finished 11th for honorable-mention All-America status. Wilcher also broke the record at the Big Ten Championships, where he finished third and completed a career sweep of scoring in both the 100 and 200 butterfly at all four conference championship meets. The 2008-09 season saw Andrew Langenfeld's 19.34 clocking in the 50 freestyle that gave him the Big Ten title, the Doris Z. Holloway Pool record and made him the fastest swimmer in conference history (record since broken). Langenfeld helped lead Purdue to a fourth-place finish that earned Purdue head coach Dan Ross his third Big Ten Coach of the Year honor. In addition to championship success, the Boilermakers also have excelled in dual meets throughout the season. In Agnew's eight seasons at Purdue, the team is 48-25 in dual meets. Before accepting the job at Purdue, Agnew was a successful coach with Yorktown High School and the Yorktown Swim Club. He brought the Yorktown H.S. swimming program to unprecedented heights during his seven-year tenure, coaching eight individual state champions and 22 high school All-Americans. In his final season with the Tigers, Agnew produced seven swimmers who are continuing on to compete for NCAA Division I schools. The Yorktown boys and girls squads combined for 10 top-10 state finishes under Agnew's watch, including a runner-up showing by his girls' team in 2006. Agnew was named Indiana High School Girls Swimming Coach of the Year following the 2003-04 season after leading the team to a fourth-place finish. Agnew graduated from Ball State University in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics education. He is married to the former Kelly McKinley. The couple lives in West Lafayette and has two daughters, Haley and Neely.

Renie completed her 14th year as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Purdue program in 2010-11. In the summer of 2011, she made the transition to supervisor of swimming and diving operations for both the men's and women's teams. The 2016-17 season marks her sixth year in a that role. As the main recruiter for the Purdue women's program, Renie was responsible for all aspects of both on- and off-campus recruiting. Since joining the Purdue staff, Renie has used her expertise, personal example and excellent recruiting skills to help take Purdue from the lower half of the Big Ten Conference to placing among the top-six teams eight out of the past nine years, including a program-best-tying fourth-place finish in 2010 that earned head coach John Klinge the conference's Coach of the Year award. Nine NCAA Championships qualifiers and five new relay records established at the Big Ten Championships highlighted the 2010-11 season. The nine NCAA qualifiers -- seven swimmers and two divers -- matched a program record established in 2010. Lisa Butler, Kara Cook, Emily Fogle, Lauren Gustafson, Caitlin Hamilton, Ariel Martin, Erin Mertz, Lauren Nichols and Allie Smith represented the Boilers at the national championship meet in Austin, Texas. Joining divers Erin Mertz and Kara Cook as Honorable Mention All-Americans were Hamilton (1,650 free) as well as the 400 and 800 relay teams. Butler, Martin and Gustafson swam on both scoring relays along with Smith (400) and Fogle (800). Purdue scored 36 points at the NCAA Championships to place 25th nationally. Purdue set new records in all five relay events at the Big Ten Championships. Individually, new program records were established in seven events at the Big Ten Championships. Martin (100 & 200 free), Cook (platform diving), Fogle (200 breast), Hamilton (500 free), Mertz (3-meter diving) and Smith (100 back) all set a new benchmark in Purdue history. Fogle's time in the 100 breast was also a freshman record. Freshman Caitlin Hamilton took down Purdue records in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650 freestyle events multiple times each throughout her first collegiate season. She finished second in the 1,650 at the Big Ten Championships in a time of 16:02.61 that obliterated the previous record of 16:26.31 that had stood since 1998. She then went on to finish eighth at the NCAA Championships in 16:02.01 to earn All-America status and record the highest national finish in Purdue history. Both 1,000 splits set a new program standard, as well, and the 500 record was broken twice at the Big Ten Championships. The Boilermakers also had All-American swims from Allie Smith in the 100 backstroke and the 400 and 800 freestyle relays and the 200 medley relay. The 16th-place finish stands as the best in program history, and the nine different All-Americans, as well as the five different scoring events, also rank as program highs. Renie's recruits have proven to be among the best in Purdue history. The all-time performance lists for all 19 events have been completely rewritten in the past 13 seasons. Only 13 of the 95 names that collectively make up the top-five fastest swimmers in each event were placed there before Renie joined the coaching staff, including her standing in fifth in the 200 butterfly, and she has been on staff and personally coached each and every school record holder. Since her arrival to Purdue's coaching staff in 1997, Renie has coached two Big Ten champions and guided 18 different student-athletes to either All-America or honorable-mention All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Renie's most consistent performers at the national meet were Lisa Dolansky, Patricia Finnerty and Lindsay Lange, each of whom qualified for three straight meets from 2001-03. Together on both medley relays and the 200 freestyle relay, these three competitors combined for 15 honorable-mention All-America citations. Kim Paradeise shared in their relay success in 2002 and 2003, earning four honorable-mention All-America certificates on her own. Gyongyver Lakos was part of the 400 medley relay team that also placed among the top 16 at the national championship meet in 2001. Lakos and Theekshana Ratnasekera also went on to represent their countries at the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney, Australia. Lakos competed for her home country of Hungary, and Ratnasekera was part of Sri Lanka's delegation to the Games. Renie, formerly Darlene Warta, was an outstanding swimmer and student-athlete at Purdue from 1986-90. A two-time team captain, Renie became Purdue's first female individual to be selected as an All-American after she placed fifth in the 200-yard butterfly at the 1989 NCAA Championships. In 1990, Renie earned All-America honors again in the 200 butterfly and honorable-mention recognition as a member of the 400 medley relay team. Renie also captured two Big Ten titles by winning the conference's 200 butterfly race in 1988 and 1990. She left Purdue as the school-record holder in the 200 butterfly. Her personal-best clocking of 1:59.27 still ranks her as the third-fastest in Purdue history in that event. Along with teammate Jill Groff, who still stands as the fourth-fastest 1,650 freestyle swimmer in program history, Renie ranks as the longest-tenured Boilermaker on any of the all-time top-five lists. She was a Senior Nationals consolation champion, a Junior Nationals qualifier, a four-time NCAA qualifier and the first woman in Purdue history to score individually at the NCAA Championships. She was named Purdue's Outstanding Senior Athlete by Mortar Board and the John Purdue Club's Chicago Athlete of the Year her senior year. By the time she finished her illustrious career, she held school records in the 100 and 200 butterfly, 800 freestyle and 400 medley relays. A native of Chicago, Renie and her husband, Jeff, live in Lafayette. Jeff, also a Purdue swimming alumnus, was a member of the 1986-87 Boilermaker squad under current head coach Dan Ross. The couple has one daughter, Jessica, and two sons, Jake and Joshua.

Bertsch begins his fifth year as part of the video staff at Purdue. Before taking over as the diving technical and administrative coordinator in June 2015, he spent three seasons as the video coordinator for the Purdue women's basketball program. He graduated from Purdue in May 2012 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Bertsch's duties include general administrative responsibilities, running the scoring program during diving competitions and assisting in anyway needed to help the diving teams run smoothly. Bertsch's responsibilities with women's basketball included capturing and breaking down game and practice video for scouting purposes and for player and team development, coordinating film exchange with opponents, updating and managing the women's basketball video server, creating motivational and highlight videos and assisting with the graphic design of mailings and presentations. Bertsch filled several roles in his time with the Boilermakers, serving as a women's basketball manager and assisting with video while a manager. Prior to that, Bertsch spent a year as a member of the Ready, Intense Practice (RIP) Squad, a group of Purdue male students who serve as practice players for the women's basketball team. The Matthews, Ind., native played varsity basketball and served as an athletic trainer at Eastbrook High School in Marion, Ind. More recently, he coached elementary school boys' basketball for the Frontier School Corporation. He is married to former Purdue basketball player Brittany Rayburn.