MIAMI (November 15, 2017) -- FIU swimming and diving finishes the semester's calendar of events in its most prestigious meet of the fall, the Purdue Invitational. The three-day meet begins Thursday at the Burke Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Indiana.
 
In addition to FIU, which is ranked No. 5 in this week's College Swimming.com's Division I Mid-Major poll, the meet features No. 8 Indiana, No. 14 Florida, and the host No. 20 Boilermakers, along with Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Virginia Tech, and divers from Indiana State and North Carolina. 
 
The elite field features nine swimmers and four divers with Olympic experience, including FIU's Naomi Ruele (Gaborone, Botswana), and 80 swimmers and divers from other nations representing their schools at the meet.
 
"This week, we get the chance to compete with some great programs," said FIU Head Coach Randy Horner. "The number of Olympians on deck this week alone is pretty impressive, including several current world-record holders. This will be the preparation we need to elevate our performances at NCAA's in March, as well as at the Conference USA Championships."
 
Preliminary heats begin at 10 a.m. Eastern on Thursday. Final heats will begin each evening at 6 p.m. Live results links are posted at FIUSports.com.
                                                                                                                                                                                    
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.