UCSB’s Billy Mullis Gets Last-Chance Qualifier in 200 Back

2018 Pac-12 Last Chance Meet

• March 4th, 2018
• Federal Way, Washington
• SCY (25y) Course

The dust is settling at the King County Aquatic Center after the conclusion of the 2018 Pac-12 men’s swimming championship meet, but there were still more races to be swum. On Sunday, the pool hosted one of the final last-chance meets for swimmers to earn qualifying times before Monday’s entry deadline for the 2018 Men’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship.

Courtesy: UCSB Athletics

The highlight swim was a 1:41.05 from UC Santa Barbara’s Billy Mullis in the men’s 200 backstroke. Swimming solo, he improved upon his midseason-best of 1:41.36. While it was just a .31-second gap, that .31 second gap made a huge difference: it moved him from 32nd in the country, probably out of NCAAs, all the way to 24th, and probably in.

For the senior Mullis, the swim was a last-ditch effort to extend his collegiate career for another meet. One of the best swimmers in UCSB school history, he holds school records in 7 events, 4 individual and 3 relays. That includes a 1:43.77 in the 200 fly that he swam on Sunday as well, which is an NCAA “B” time.

His best time in the 200 back coming into the season sat at just 1:45.01. Now, almost 4 seconds faster, he’s on his way to Minneapolis for the NCAA Championships.

Full results from the last-chance event weren’t available as of posting, but we were able to glean a few other swims:

• Arizona State’s Reid Elliott, who probably just missed a qualifying time with his 46.14 time trial during the meet, was unable to improve the swim on Sunday. He finished in 46.59.
• USC junior Alex Valente swam a 46.20 in the men’s 100 fly, which missed his season-best of 46.02. That 36.0 ranks just 38th nationally. USC’s Dylan Carter ranks 36th in the same event with a 45.99, meaning that for the first-time-ever, it will take sub-46 for a swimmer trying to earn their NCAA invite in the 100 fly.