Chambana Sun

The Illinois swim and dive teams faced a challenging Big Ten home opener against Purdue, resulting in a 171-129 loss at the ARC Pool on Saturday. Despite the defeat, the meet was notable for breaking five pool records.

Among the records shattered were those in the 200 medley relay by Sophia Paduano, Kayla Duran, Logan Kuehne, and Isabella Wilhelm with a time of 1:40.58. This performance also marked the eighth-fastest time in Illinois program history. Sara Jass set a new record in the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.77, while Logan Kuehne achieved a record-breaking 50 freestyle at 23.15 seconds. Sydney Stoll broke records in both the 100 freestyle (49.98) and 200 freestyle (1:47.96).

Chloe Diner contributed to Illinois' achievements by recording the tenth-fastest time in program history for the 100 butterfly during her second-place finish with a time of 55.24.

In diving events, Matilda Garcia led Illinois on the one-meter boards with a fourth-place finish scoring 268.28 points. Dani O'Kelly secured fifth place with 260.48 points, while Bethany Mercer finished sixth with 235.88 points. O'Kelly also earned silver on the three-meter boards with a score of 278.40, followed by Carlie Rose's personal-best score of 257.55 for fourth place and Mercer's fifth-place finish at 247.35.

Other noteworthy performances included top finishes by Kuehne in the 50 freestyle and Diner in the 100 breaststroke, along with strong showings from Stoll and Jass in their respective events.

The Illinois team is set to compete again on Friday against Iowa in Iowa City.