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Let's face it, we're a diving school. We may be kicked around by the Big Ten in football, baseball, and pretty much every other sport, but thanks to coach Adam Soldati no one in the country dives like us. That will be shown this weekend here in Indianapolis. A total of 112 divers are in Indy for the Olympic Trials and seven of them have ties to Purdue. It is almost certain that more than one will go to Rio in search of gold.
David Boudia - Boudia is attempting to be the third Purdue athlete in history to go to three Olympics. Ray Ewry and Nedzad Mulabegovic are the other two, while Kara Patterson is also attempting to make it in the javelin this summer. As the reigning 10-meter Olympic Gold Medalist Boudia is pretty much a lock to return. He will attempt to qualify in the 10-meter synchro with fellow Purdue diver Steele Johnson. He is also attempting to qualify in the individual 10 meters.
Steele Johnson - Johnson is doing the double along with Boudia. In fact, he sat out this past diving season in the NCAAs specifically to train for the Olympics and will return with sophomore eligibility this winter. He already has a pair of NCAA championships (1-meter and 10-meter) to his credit.
Nate Cox - Cox recently finished a four-year career at Purdue and will compete in the 10-meter platform individually. He qualified for the NCAA championships this past winter and finished 17th.
Joe Cifeli - Cifeli just finished his freshman season at Purdue and will compete in the 3-meter springboard. He finished 6th this year in the consolation final at the NCAA Championships. He was also 5th at the Big Ten meet.
Max Showalter - Another freshman, he will go against Boudia and Johnson in the 10-meter synchro with Zach Cooper. At the NCAA championships this year he was 7th in the consolation final.
Anna James - On the women's side James will compete in the 10-meter synchro with Katrina Young. She already competed in the 2011 World Championships.
MacKenzie Tweardy - The Purdue alum was an NCAA finalist in 2014 and 2015 and will compete in the 10-meter platform. She was a 2-time All-American before graduating in 2015.