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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 10 • 46 four opponents – Iowa, Maryland, North- western and Rutgers – sit in the confer- ence cellar with a combined Big Ten mark of 9-39. Purdue begins the stretch Saturday in Iowa City against an Iowa team riding a three-match winning streak after losing eight of its first nine conference matches. In 2012, an unranked Iowa squad swept No. 12 Purdue in West Lafayette. j OLYMPIC ATHLETE-OF-THE-WEEK: GUILLERMO BLANCO T he men's swimming and diving team looked like it may lose to Notre Dame for only the second time in the schools' last eight matchups until Guillermo Blanco's narrow victory by 0.05 seconds in the 200 individual medley (1:48.46) sealed Purdue's 161-139 victory. "Guillermo has been there for us so many times," swimming coach Dan Ross said. "When he won the 200 IM for us, we basically won the meet. I was screaming at the water during the last 50. I wanted it so bad." Blanco, who also won the 200 backstroke by a much more comfortable 1.15-second margin, called his vic- tory in the 200 IM one of the closest race he's ever had. "I would highlight that race because it was very challenging for me," Blanco said. "It was the last event for me after I swam the 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and the 200 medley relay. I was super tired. I was super happy with that win." Since Blanco started swimming the individual medley as a young boy in Spain, he realized he was a strong swimmer in all events. "One year I was very good at fly, one of those I was very good at backstroke, one year I was good at all of the events," Blanco said. "That background gave me the confidence and the strength to swim all of the events at pretty much all of the same level." That versatility has carried over to his time at Purdue. Last season, Blanco swam in a team-high nine individual events and qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 backstroke. He has already emerged victorious in five different individual events — the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 400 individual medley, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley — through three meets this fall. "Coach Ross knows I can swim pretty much all of the events," Blanco said. "Whenever he needs a swimmer to swim some certain event, I would say he picks me because he knows I can swim pretty much everything and I feel comfortable with all of them as well." After recruiting Blanco for the backstroke and IM, his aptitude at events has been a pleasant surprise for Ross. "He's really an IMer who can swim anything," Ross said. "He's opened up events that we didn't necessarily see him swimming like the 200 fly and some of those events. He's got four strokes." Blanco's ability to swim multiple strokes and dis - tances gives Ross the luxury to tinker with his lineup throughout the season. "You have to have your horses in the lineup," Ross said. "When your horses can swim different events … it really makes it easy on me when somebody else isn't feeling well or performing well." Ross hopes Blanco's performance transfers to the postseason better than it did last season. Blanco finished 11th in the 200 IM and 200 butter- fly and seventh in the 400 IM at the Big Ten Champion- ships. He failed to finish in the Top 25 in any individual event at the NCAA Championships. "He'd be the first one to tell you he was disappoint- ed in how he handled the Big Tens and the NCAAs last year," Ross said. The senior expects more from himself this year — an NCAA "A" final and a Big Ten medal are at the top of his goal list — and Ross does too. "I see him as being an All-American in at least the 200 and 400 IMs," Ross said. "From a physical stand- point, he's got a gift a lot of guys don't have." — Travis Baugh 2014 SOCCER SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time/Result Aug. 15 at Illinois State (Exhibition) W, 2-0 Aug. 22 MIAMI OHIO* L, 0-1 Aug. 24 OHIO* W, 2-0 Aug. 29 BALL STATE W, 2-0 Aug. 31 SIU EDWARDSVILLE W, 4-1 Sept. 4 at Marshall W, 2-1 Sept. 7 at Youngstown State T, 1-1 Sept. 12 PENN STATE L, 0-1 Sept. 14 OHIO STATE W, 3-1 Sept. 19 at Northwestern W, 2-1(OT) Sept. 21 at Illinois L, 0-3 Sept. 26 MINNESOTA L, 0-1 Sept. 28 WISCONSIN L, 0-1 Oct. 2 at Maryland L, 1-2 Oct. 5 at Rutgers L, 0-4 Oct. 11 MICHIGAN STATE L, 0-2 Oct. 17 at Nebraska L, 0-1 Oct. 19 at Iowa L, 1-3 Oct. 25 INDIANA L, 0-1 Nov. 1 MICHIGAN T, 1-1 *Boilermaker Challenge Cup