NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen High senior Max Saenz said his parents have been driving him to swim practice since he was 7 years old. They never hesitated to take the youngster to competitions or camps, even if they had to travel to Austin or Houston from the Valley.
The work paid off for Saenz, as he signed to swim and play water polo for Austin College in Sherman, near the Red River north of Dallas.
“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Saenz said. “I get to continue my academic career while also playing two sports, something I did not expect to do at first. But now that it’s happening, I’m very pumped.”
Saenz was a staple of the Bulldogs swim team for four years. He made his first trip to the UIL state swim meet as a freshman and reached that level all four years of his high school career. He is a freestyle specialist who qualified as an individual in the 50 and 100 free, and he was also a part of McAllen’s relay groups.
Current McHi swim coach Albino Cisneros said that Saenz will not soon be forgotten.
“I watched practices and just see somebody that never gave up on his set, never stopped,” MISD swim coordinator Humberto Patch said. “He is one of a group. He’s such a leader. He’s leaving this program in great hands. He helped build what is a very successful swim program now.”
In the middle of his high school swim career, a new passion was born in the same pools in which he had been training for years. Former McHi swim coach Jared Kaminski introduced the team to water polo, and a seed was planted.
That grew into a real opportunity when the coaches at Austin College asked Saenz if he wanted to be a part of the water polo team in addition to swimming. The ‘Roos will be the first NCAA varsity water polo team in the state since Texas A&M’s program ended operation in 1976. They will compete against existing powerhouses from the west like Stanford and Cal.
“It definitely was something I was not expecting,” Saenz said. “I always thought water polo was just an awesome game to play from the beginning. It was cool that I got into it, but it was never a year-round thing. Now that the opportunity was presented to me, it’s an awesome chance that I took.”
Water polo, a sport sponsored at the high school and university level primarily on the west and east coasts, has been on the rise in the central United States.
The sport is still not sponsored by the UIL, but that could change with Class 6A and 5A superintendents favoring the addition more than ever. In 2014, only 21 percent of superintendents approved. In 2016, that number rose to 46 percent.
McAllen ISD and PSJA ISD are the main players in the Valley, but with a nod from the UIL, the number of districts in on the fun could also rise.
“We’re ecstatic about it,” Max Saenz Sr. said about his son putting ink on the dotted line. “He’s a dual athlete in something that he loves to do, and that he’s been doing very well in high school. In college, it’s another level.”
“It’s been a blessing,” his mother, Sandra Saenz, said. “He’s such a great kid. Now, I feel he’s the full package. You never know what’s going to happen at the end of your hard work. He’s very blessed that Austin College accepted him.”