Junior All-American Patrick Mulcare
Photo by: Paul Goldberg
Trojan Profile: Patrick Mulcare
November 29, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Features
Junior All-American eyeing his future in and out of the pool.
By Fernando Stepensky
Sporting a Third Eye Pinecone pendant and a birthstone his sister gave him along with a beard that connects to his wavy blonde hair, Patrick Mulcare's look doesn't scream out that he's one of the nation's best swimmers — but then again, the junior three-time All-American is far more than that anyway.
He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and then moved to Tigard, Ore., right outside of Portland, midway through high school. Neither city, nor state for that matter, had a strong swimming focus. Despite breaking records from the age of 12, Mulcare openly admitted he was never the best swimmer, but that he was constantly progressing, and still is today.
He may not be the most high-profile swimmer on USC's team, but that bar is set high on a top-ranked squad stacked with Olympians. At the NCAA Championships in March, Mulcare clocked the fifth fastest 200-yard backstroke ever en route to a career-best third place (1:37.80), putting him less than two seconds behind the likes of Olympic gold medalists Ryan Murphy and Ryan Lochte, the top two fastest in the race. This isn't his only impressive accolade — far from it for the two-time 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials semifinalist. Regardless of his achievements in the pool, few things excite Mulcare as much as talking about his studies and his career aspirations beyond swimming.
Mulcare and the rest of his USC men's and women's swimming teammates are competing today through Saturday at the Texas Invitational. Click here for results.
He majors in Media Arts and Practice, a small program in the renowned USC School of Cinematic Arts, which is "a community of multimedia creators who are fluent in the techniques and technologies of digital art and design, cinematic media, and storytelling," according to the program's website.
"I chose the major because it was very open," Mulcare said. "There's a lot of flexibility when it comes to the projects you want to do and how you want to do it. It kind of mixes media with the physicality of structuring a more science, computer engineering based program."
The area of study fits in well with Mulcare's creative, artistic side, as he enjoys writing and drawing in his free time. While so much of his time is taken up by swimming, he's glad to have found something to pursue long-term outside of the pool.
"Pro swimming has only recently become a thing, and even still there is not a lot of money in it, I've known that for a long time," said Mulcare, the 2016 Pac-12 champion in the 200-yard backstroke who was second in the race in 2017. "I never expected my life to revolve around swimming forever, so being able to find something that I love to do and love to learn about has really been helpful as it comes to moving forward in the next steps of my life post-swimming."
In his 12th year as USC's head coach, Dave Salo has seen a wide spectrum of personalities in his student-athletes, which is something he cherishes.
"We always have some unique individuals," Salo said. "You can't pigeonhole our team. It's very eclectic, funny, strange, weird personalities, but we make it happen. I think that's what is unique to our program: They're all kind of different. If you're a little out on the borders it's OK, and so [Mulcare] is kind of a border guy. He likes being an individual."
While Salo used the word "eclectic" to describe the team's personalities, junior breaststroker and IMer Billy Monjay used a similar word: "eccentric."
"We all come from different backgrounds and really the only thing a lot of us have in common is swimming, but we are still the best of friends, and that's something really cool about the team," Monjay said. "Patrick and I are extremely different, but we also really understand each other."
One of their most startling differences is the way their minds work. While Mulcare, a 2017 Pac-12 All-Academic second team section, is artistically driven, Monjay is an industrial and systems engineering major with a specialization in information systems, and he says he is math and quantitatively oriented. Although they are on opposite ends of the spectrum in that aspect, they find common ground in having rare majors for student-athletes, and they both devote a lot of energy to their career aspirations.
"I'd say we are both very well-rounded people in that we love swimming but we are also very passionate about school," said Monjay, a 2017 Pac-12 All-Academic first teamer. "We both have very specific majors, which I guess shows we put a lot of thought into, you know, our futures, what we wanted to be studying and what our passions are."
Monjay was Mulcare's second semester freshman year roommate — since Mulcare was training for the Olympic Trials with other similarly talented peers — and the two now consider each other best of friends.
"You don't really get to choose who your teammates are, but Patrick has turned into one of the best friends that I've ever had," Monjay said. "We're very emotionally supportive of each other, we've helped each other through a lot of difficult things. Maybe it's a coincidence that we meshed well in that sense, but it means a lot to me."
Mulcare comes highly commended in the pool too. Monjay and Salo described him as a leader, someone others feed off, and someone that knows how to have fun while still being all business when it is time to compete.
For now, Mulcare is focused on cutting another second off of his 200-yard backstroke time, where he currently ranks third in the nation. He also wants to break an American record before he graduates, and get an NCAA title or two.
"That would all be really amazing because I didn't think that would be something I'd be saying when I committed here, and I think that's a testament to the work that's being done on the swim team here," Mulcare said. "Graduating in 2020, I'll have a couple more months until Olympic Trials and then based on how I do there, I'll either move on to real life or see if I can be a pro swimmer for a little bit."
Sporting a Third Eye Pinecone pendant and a birthstone his sister gave him along with a beard that connects to his wavy blonde hair, Patrick Mulcare's look doesn't scream out that he's one of the nation's best swimmers — but then again, the junior three-time All-American is far more than that anyway.
He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and then moved to Tigard, Ore., right outside of Portland, midway through high school. Neither city, nor state for that matter, had a strong swimming focus. Despite breaking records from the age of 12, Mulcare openly admitted he was never the best swimmer, but that he was constantly progressing, and still is today.
He may not be the most high-profile swimmer on USC's team, but that bar is set high on a top-ranked squad stacked with Olympians. At the NCAA Championships in March, Mulcare clocked the fifth fastest 200-yard backstroke ever en route to a career-best third place (1:37.80), putting him less than two seconds behind the likes of Olympic gold medalists Ryan Murphy and Ryan Lochte, the top two fastest in the race. This isn't his only impressive accolade — far from it for the two-time 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials semifinalist. Regardless of his achievements in the pool, few things excite Mulcare as much as talking about his studies and his career aspirations beyond swimming.
Mulcare and the rest of his USC men's and women's swimming teammates are competing today through Saturday at the Texas Invitational. Click here for results.
He majors in Media Arts and Practice, a small program in the renowned USC School of Cinematic Arts, which is "a community of multimedia creators who are fluent in the techniques and technologies of digital art and design, cinematic media, and storytelling," according to the program's website.
"I chose the major because it was very open," Mulcare said. "There's a lot of flexibility when it comes to the projects you want to do and how you want to do it. It kind of mixes media with the physicality of structuring a more science, computer engineering based program."
The area of study fits in well with Mulcare's creative, artistic side, as he enjoys writing and drawing in his free time. While so much of his time is taken up by swimming, he's glad to have found something to pursue long-term outside of the pool.
"Pro swimming has only recently become a thing, and even still there is not a lot of money in it, I've known that for a long time," said Mulcare, the 2016 Pac-12 champion in the 200-yard backstroke who was second in the race in 2017. "I never expected my life to revolve around swimming forever, so being able to find something that I love to do and love to learn about has really been helpful as it comes to moving forward in the next steps of my life post-swimming."
In his 12th year as USC's head coach, Dave Salo has seen a wide spectrum of personalities in his student-athletes, which is something he cherishes.
"We always have some unique individuals," Salo said. "You can't pigeonhole our team. It's very eclectic, funny, strange, weird personalities, but we make it happen. I think that's what is unique to our program: They're all kind of different. If you're a little out on the borders it's OK, and so [Mulcare] is kind of a border guy. He likes being an individual."
While Salo used the word "eclectic" to describe the team's personalities, junior breaststroker and IMer Billy Monjay used a similar word: "eccentric."
"We all come from different backgrounds and really the only thing a lot of us have in common is swimming, but we are still the best of friends, and that's something really cool about the team," Monjay said. "Patrick and I are extremely different, but we also really understand each other."
One of their most startling differences is the way their minds work. While Mulcare, a 2017 Pac-12 All-Academic second team section, is artistically driven, Monjay is an industrial and systems engineering major with a specialization in information systems, and he says he is math and quantitatively oriented. Although they are on opposite ends of the spectrum in that aspect, they find common ground in having rare majors for student-athletes, and they both devote a lot of energy to their career aspirations.
"I'd say we are both very well-rounded people in that we love swimming but we are also very passionate about school," said Monjay, a 2017 Pac-12 All-Academic first teamer. "We both have very specific majors, which I guess shows we put a lot of thought into, you know, our futures, what we wanted to be studying and what our passions are."
Monjay was Mulcare's second semester freshman year roommate — since Mulcare was training for the Olympic Trials with other similarly talented peers — and the two now consider each other best of friends.
"You don't really get to choose who your teammates are, but Patrick has turned into one of the best friends that I've ever had," Monjay said. "We're very emotionally supportive of each other, we've helped each other through a lot of difficult things. Maybe it's a coincidence that we meshed well in that sense, but it means a lot to me."
Mulcare comes highly commended in the pool too. Monjay and Salo described him as a leader, someone others feed off, and someone that knows how to have fun while still being all business when it is time to compete.
For now, Mulcare is focused on cutting another second off of his 200-yard backstroke time, where he currently ranks third in the nation. He also wants to break an American record before he graduates, and get an NCAA title or two.
"That would all be really amazing because I didn't think that would be something I'd be saying when I committed here, and I think that's a testament to the work that's being done on the swim team here," Mulcare said. "Graduating in 2020, I'll have a couple more months until Olympic Trials and then based on how I do there, I'll either move on to real life or see if I can be a pro swimmer for a little bit."
Players Mentioned
Breast
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
IM/Back/Free
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