In the world of swimming, sinking times mean rising expectations. After this weekend’s meet, things are starting to look up for Northwestern men’s and women’s swimming.

In the Wildcats’ first multi-day tournament of the year, the No. 13 NU men took third place at the Purdue Invitational. The NU women’s team finished fifth with 443.50 points.

The Cats fell to two strong opponents in men’s action: No. 7 Florida, who routed the field for first place, and the meet host, No. 14 Purdue. The Boilermakers, who placed a distant second, edged out the Cats by 46 points, 675-629.

Mike Alexandrov, the two-time reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Week, had another solid showing for the Cats. The junior posted two NCAA ‘B’ standards with a 1:48.04 in the 200 IM and a 1:57.34 in the 200 breast, good for first and second place, respectively.

Fellow junior Matt Grevers became the first NU swimmer to post an NCAA ‘A’ standard this season, tying a pool record and winning the 100 fly in 46.89. Grevers, the defending NCAA Champion in the 100 back, also took first in 50 free with a 19.98, an NCAA ‘B’ time. Sophomore Kyle Bubolz posted a 20.49 in the 50 free, earning him a second place finish behind Grevers.

Coach Bob Groseth was impressed with the juniors, praising their leadership by action.

“They’re two guys that you can build a team around,” Groseth said. “They’re both versatile (swimmers) – (and) without those two guys, we wouldn’t be nearly as competitive as we are.”

On the women’s side, NU finished in fifth place, scoring 443.50 points. The Cats had a number of strong personal performers, principle among them Andrea Hupman. The sophomore scored three wins, in the 50, 100, and 200 free, including an NCAA ‘A’ time in the 100 free. Senior Katie Paglini added a 2nd place showing in the 200 back, with an NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 2:00.51.

On the diving boards, defending Big Ten diver of the week Chelsea Davis took the 3-meter dive with a score of 315.90. Junior Leanne Dumais supported her freshman teammate with a 3rd place showing in the same event.

At the weekend’s conclusion, coach Jimmy Tierney said he was proud of his swimmers and divers, most of whom posted their fastest times and best scores of the year.

“We’re really pleased with how the girls performed,” said Tierney, who added that he wasn’t “all that concerned about the team placing,” but more with the individual times and scores.

“They swam really tough, and in the majority of the cases we swam faster than we had all year,” Tierney said. “It was just what we (had) hoped for.”

Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].