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110 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED too: To win the Big Ten championship, clocking a 1:52.67 to edge out IU's Cody Taylor by three-hundredths of a second. Also in that meet, Amaltdinov set a career-best in the 100 breast, his 53.18 giving him sixth place and also moving him into second place all-time at Purdue in the event. "What makes him special is physically, he's built like a breaststroker. Those guys have a certain kick," Ross said. "And he has a capacity to train really well, but he has a discipline to maximize his capacity. He has a tremendous capacity, mitochondrial capillariza- tion, his circulatory and pulmonary system is really good, but he also has the discipline to push that and develop it. He's basically got a God-given gift that he is held accountable for. "He has a desire to be really good." Perhaps an NCAA medalist-type of good. Maybe could have been that last season. Amaltdinov's Big Ten-championship time in the 200 would have been equivalent to a third seed at the NCAA Championships, but he didn't attend the NCAAs. Even before the season began, Ross and Amaltdinov decided to skip the meet to train instead for the Olympic Trials. It's not the typical approach, Ross said. Ideally, Amaltdinov would have sat out a full year to train for the Olympic opportunity and not lost any eligibility. But Amaltdinov's situation is a unique one: There isn't a redshirt year available. His clock started as soon as he left high school, and he spent that year studying at a university in Russia. So Ross and Amaltdinov decided to taper for Big Tens, rest and then hit Olympic Trials. "The way we did it might not have been the best plan in the world, but it was what it was. He was that good that you've got to give him that chance," Ross said. "He was a legitimate force in there (for the Rus- sian Olympic Team). "We did what we thought was the best situation for him and Purdue. If we could have redshirted him and not used up any of his (eligibility), we would have done that. But we didn't have that luxury. We still hope he has two more years and he can still totally focus on trying to win an NCAA Championship, and that's what we're going to work on now." Amaltdinov didn't compete as well as he would have liked at the Trials but said it was worth the experience because he could analyze what he did right and wrong and bring that into this year. This season, the focus is solely on the Boilermakers. Because, though it's a likely scenario that Amaltdinov will win a petition to get a fourth year of competition, all he knows truly right now is he has this season. And such a singular focus from a phenomenal work- er could be scary. Amaltdinov won't say what his goal time is for the 200, but some of his other goals are clear: He wants to keep breaking records and winning championships. "I won Big Ten last year, so definitely want to defend the title (and then) go to NCAAs and just do my best to per- form. I went to NCAAs my freshman year, so I have some experience. But this time, I want to go faster," he said. A faster Amaltdinov and a team loaded with divers, including Johnson being back in the fold after his first Olympics, could mean big things for Purdue. "That was the biggest negative (last season) — our NCAA team took a hit," Ross said. "But we figured, you know what? Let's take the whole hit and then (this) year we'll look like world record-holders because we'll be so much better." Amaltdinov, for one, is excited about the opportunity to be, as he says, "just a Purdue breaststroker," who represents the program and isn't divided with national aspirations. At least, not now. Now, Amaltdinov is just savoring where he's at, es- pecially considering all the difficult decisions to get here. "I like what I do," Amaltdinov said. "I like the team. I like the coaches. I have a lot of friends here, a lot of good friends, good connections. It definitely was the right de- cision. It's so what I want my life to be, at this point." j