Georgia’s Ng Goes Three Best Times in 100 Backstroke at Bulldog Last Chance

2022 Bulldog Last Chance Meet

• February 26-27, 2022
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia (University of Georgia)
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Full Results

The University of Georgia hosted one of a number of “Last Chance” meets this weekend with a primary purpose for swimmers who may have missed tapers or time goals at their conference meets to have one last qualifying opportunity for the NCAA Championships.

Historically, between 26-30 men’s swimmers are invited to NCAAs per individual event, and between 36-40 women’s swimmers.

At Last Chance meets, a swimmer can swim a race in a prelim, final, time trial, and relay leadoffs, but cannot swim a race endlessly to chase a better time.

For the women, this is the last weekend to post times for NCAA qualification consideration, with the cutoff for result submission being 11:59PM Eastern Time on Sunday.

Georgia put up another solid showing on Sunday, with many Bulldogs etching their names in Georgia’s top-10 list, while also securing some possible NCAA berths.

Likely NCAA qualifications by Georgia swimmers:

• Sophomore Wesley Ng of Georgia improved on his 100 backstroke time that he produced during a time trial on Saturday. On Sunday, he posted a 45.73 in the event, which keeps him at #4 in Georgia’s history. His times from this weekend move him up significantly in the NCAA rankings: #52 prior to this meet, to #26 on Saturday, to #20 on Sunday, which will likely secure him a spot at the NCAA Championships next month. Ng also broke into Georgia’s top-10 in the 100 butterfly, posting a B-cut time of 46.40, which ranks him #10. His time puts him #68 in the NCAA rankings. (100 backstroke, Ng, lane 5 in video) 

• Georgia sophomore Rachel Stege put up a great performance in the 1,650 after swimming a best time in the 500 freestyle earlier in the meet. Her time in the 500 (4:43.07) ranked her #37, which put her just on the qualification bubble. In the mile, Stege touched the wall at 16:12.60, which puts her at #27 in the NCAA, which should be enough to punch her ticket to Atlanta. 

Swimmers who cracked the Georgia top-10 performance list: 

• Zach Hils, a Georgia junior, put up the #10 in Georgia history for the 200 backstroke (1:42.02), which puts him #48 in the NCAA rankings. He sits right on the invite bubble in the 200 IM from his swim yesterday, which ranks him #21.
• Freshman Reese Branzell of Georgia put up the #9 time in Bulldogs history with his time in the 100 freestyle (42.81). This ties him for #57 in the NCAA. 

A number of Florida swimmers missed the SEC Championships due to COVID-19 related protocols. The Gators continued to have an impressive showing on the second day of the meet, adding more names to their list of potential NCAA qualifiers. 

Other potential NCAA qualifications:

• Florida freshman Anna Auld put up the #35 time in the NCAA (16:14.76), which improves her #38 ranking from SEC Championships (16:16.87). 
• Dillon Hillis, a Florida senior who likely punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships with his 100 breaststroke earlier in the meet. He just needed a B-cut in the 200 breaststroke, but posted the #11 time in the NCAA season for the 200 breaststroke this year (1:52.43) during the Sunday Finals session. In prelims, he posted a 1:52.88. He previously ranked #65 with his time from the Georgia Tech invite in November 2021 (1:55.34). (200 breaststroke, Hillis, lane 4 in video)

• Earning a spot on the upper-end bubble in the 200 breaststroke is Florida sophomore Amro Al-Wir. His 1:53.64 from prelims now puts him #26 in the NCAA ranks. He was previously 34th from his time at SEC Championships (1:53.90). (Al-Weir, 200 breaststroke lane 4 in video)