NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
MCALLEN — McAllen High senior Shaine Casas doesn’t have a weak stroke. He has the luxury of swimming whichever race he wants and still reaching the podium, even at the UIL state swim meet.
He will compete today and Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin for the last time as a high school student, with two individual events left to capture the elusive gold that he’s strived for.
“I’ve been pretty excited,” Casas said. “I can’t stop repeating to my friends how pumped I am to swim this weekend. I just want a shot at redemption and, hopefully, to bring home two golds, not one.”
The Texas A&M-bound swimmer was narrowly out-touched in both the 100-yard butterfly and 200 individual medley as a junior. This year, he’s swimming the butterfly again, plus he’s adding a throwback — the 100 backstroke. Casas received his first state medal in the event as a sophomore, claiming bronze with a time of 49.42 seconds.
After sweeping his events at the district meet, Casas said he can swim just about any stroke, but he wanted to give the backstroke another shot after almost surprising the field as a sophomore.
His decorated career has transcended UIL competition. In the last calendar year, he earned gold with the U.S. junior national team, plus a silver and two bronzes at the Speedo Junior National Championships. In November, he inked his national letter of intent to swim for the Aggies in the Southeastern Conference.
For Casas, state gold is the final box to check off his impressive to-do list.
“It’s just one of those things I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I just haven’t had my shot yet,” Casas said. “It just shows that I need a little more work. There’s always going to be someone better than you, so you just have to keep that in mind when you train.”
For the first time in three trips to Austin for the state swim meet, Casas is seeded first heading into one of his events — the backstroke, with a time of 47.52. He owns the second-quickest qualifying time in the butterfly, but says he hasn’t swum his fastest in that stroke yet.
“State is more of a mental game than anything,” Casas said. “When it comes down to it, it just matters about place. I’m just going to race. I don’t necessarily care what time I go, as long as I win I’ll be happy.”
One of those mind games includes getting into technical suits, or tech suits, as the postseason progresses. The swimsuits are the most aerodynamic material and design available for competition.
“The tech suits, they do help,” Casas said. “The mental edge is huge, but there is scientific proof it causes less drag. And just being able to say, ‘I have a tech suit on. I’m ready to swim fast.’ That’ll get you psyched up and ready to go.”
Casas has had the internal drive to claim gold, and the Bulldogs have been under the direction of first-year coach Albino Cisneros.
Casas will be joined by individual qualifiers Jace Lyon, Maximo Saenz and Mikey Moore, as well as the Bulldogs 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay teams. McHi is also sending one girls swimmer — Courtney Crocker.
Saenz is qualified in the two quickest individual races, the 50 and 100 freestyles. He said he feels extra excited about his senior state meet thanks to a new approach to training, including more specialized workouts.
“The excitement is definitely there. I don’t know so much about the nerves, because this is going to be my fourth year going back,” Saenz said. “I think it’s the different training. It’s really just more training for ourselves. We have our own perspectives on our own bodies, and we get to work around that.”
Cisneros, who came to McHi after a fruitful tenure at Los Fresnos, said switching schools was a tough decision, but the change has been rewarded with his team’s success in the pool.
“They’re naturally gifted athletes, especially in Shaine’s case. I can’t take credit for that,” Cisneros said. “It’s been a good year, a fun year. I knew they had the potential for success. I knew I could lead them to a regional championship. Now, the goal is to get Shaine gold at State.”
Cisneros said it’s not far-fetched to expect the best out of Casas this weekend.
“Since the first day I met him, I knew he was going to win gold at state,” Cisneros said. “Just his positive attitude, his way of thinking, and throughout the whole season he would make comments like, ‘I’m ready. I’m ready.’ You really can’t coach that.”