Pitt’s Blaise Vera Wins with Historic Time at Purdue Invite
11/21/2019 9:00:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Junior swimmer Blaise Vera recorded a dominant victory – and a historic time – in the 50-yard freestyle sprint to highlight the opening day of action at the Purdue Invite for the Pitt swimming & diving teams at the Burke Aquatic Center.
Vera's winning 50 Free time of 19.10 seconds not only gave him a lopsided triumph against a strong field but it also broke his own Pitt school record in the event of 19.24 from last season's ACC Championships.
A junior from Clinton, Miss., Vera now owns the top 50-yard freestyle time in the country as he continues to improve under Pitt's fourth-year head coach John Hargis and his coaching staff.
The Panthers produced several other impressive performances on Thursday at Purdue, with senior swimmer Valerie Daigneault placing second in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.61) and freshman diver Dylan Reed taking third on 1-meter springboard with a strong score of 302.15.
Other top-five finishes from the Panthers included swimmers Samy Helmbacher and Sarah Giamber finishing fourth in the 200 IM and 500 Free, respectively, while divers Josh Parquet took fourth on 1-meter with Serena Buchwald placing fifth on 3-meter.
The Pitt men's 400-yard medley relay took second behind only ACC rival Louisville with a strong time of 3:10.35, and the men placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay as well. The Panthers also finished third in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay and fourth in the 400-yard medley relay on Thursday.
Pitt swimming & diving is back in action Friday at the team's fall invitational from West Lafayette, Ind., with swimming resuming at 10 a.m. before another slate of final heats commence at 6 p.m.
Fans can follow the Panthers at Purdue with live results at this link.
Here is the remaining schedule of events for the 2019 Purdue Invite:
Friday
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
800 Free Relay
Women's 1-Meter Diving
Men's 3-Meter Diving
Saturday
1,650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
400 Free Relay
Platform Diving
#H2P | #H2oP | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Vera's winning 50 Free time of 19.10 seconds not only gave him a lopsided triumph against a strong field but it also broke his own Pitt school record in the event of 19.24 from last season's ACC Championships.
BEST TIME IN THE NATION ??
— Pitt Swim & Dive (@Pitt_SWIM_DIVE) November 22, 2019
Pitt's Blaise Vera went 19.10 to win the Purdue Invite 50 Free!#H2P #H2oP pic.twitter.com/FTb39hCpoc
A junior from Clinton, Miss., Vera now owns the top 50-yard freestyle time in the country as he continues to improve under Pitt's fourth-year head coach John Hargis and his coaching staff.
The Panthers produced several other impressive performances on Thursday at Purdue, with senior swimmer Valerie Daigneault placing second in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.61) and freshman diver Dylan Reed taking third on 1-meter springboard with a strong score of 302.15.
Other top-five finishes from the Panthers included swimmers Samy Helmbacher and Sarah Giamber finishing fourth in the 200 IM and 500 Free, respectively, while divers Josh Parquet took fourth on 1-meter with Serena Buchwald placing fifth on 3-meter.
The Pitt men's 400-yard medley relay took second behind only ACC rival Louisville with a strong time of 3:10.35, and the men placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay as well. The Panthers also finished third in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay and fourth in the 400-yard medley relay on Thursday.
Pitt swimming & diving is back in action Friday at the team's fall invitational from West Lafayette, Ind., with swimming resuming at 10 a.m. before another slate of final heats commence at 6 p.m.
Fans can follow the Panthers at Purdue with live results at this link.
Here is the remaining schedule of events for the 2019 Purdue Invite:
Friday
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
800 Free Relay
Women's 1-Meter Diving
Men's 3-Meter Diving
Saturday
1,650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
400 Free Relay
Platform Diving
#H2P | #H2oP | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
DIVE
/ Swimming & Diving
BACK/FREE/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
FREE/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
BREAST/FREE/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
DIVE
/ Swimming & Diving
DIVE
/ Swimming & Diving
FLY/FREE
/ Swimming & DivingPitt Athletics | 2024 Hall of Fame Class | Amy Jackson
Wednesday, September 18
2024 ACC Diving Championships Preview | Head Coach Katie Kasprzak
Tuesday, February 20
2024 ACC Swimming Championships Preview | Head Coach Chase Kreitler
Tuesday, February 20
Minnesota Preview - Senior Day
Thursday, January 18