JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
Should Edinburg Vela swimmer Elroy Garza ever wish to revisit his best day in the pool, he’ll have to rely solely on his memories to do so.
“I don’t think he expected it,” Edinburg Vela swim coach William Oullette said. “We didn’t’ expect it. We didn’t even video record it.”
Garza, a sophomore, broke a personal record in the 50-yard freestyle at last week’s Weslaco swim meet, finishing in first place with a time of 24.89 seconds.
“He was just trying to get faster,” Oullete said. “And he was just sitting there trying to psych himself up before the race saying, ‘I’m going to get under 25 (seconds).’”
Garza started in the fourth lane, one of the slower starting spots in the competition’s fastest heat. Swimming against juniors and seniors with more experience, Garza took an early lead once he hit the water, and never looked back as he edged second place by a tenth of a second.
“I didn’t even get a chance to say congratulations to him,” Oullette said. “The whole team went and grabbed him and congratulated him. I just sat there laughing because (Garza’s performance) was unexpected. It was out of nowhere.”
Vela, and swimmers throughout the Edinburg school system, face a steep learning curve compared to some of their Valley competition. The schools system has no pool in which any of its teams may practice, forcing all teams to share a public pool at South Park in Edinburg.
“Some other cities have swim clubs or middle school teams,” Oullette said. “We don’t have that. So when we get these kids, we get them raw.”
Oullette’s Sabercats finished with 20 medals at the Weslaco meet, and their coach is optimistic about the team’s abilities come district competition.
THE NEW KID
The Roma girls swim team is loaded with young talent that is already paying dividends in the pool. Several underclassmen won medals for the Gladiators, including Daniella Perez, who placed second in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 2:21.49.
“That’s not unusual for us,” assistant coach Anna Synder said. “A lot of our girls come from middle school and have been swimming for a while.”
The swimmer who bested Perez was teammate Jocelyn Martinez, who took first place by a margin of 19 seconds. Martinez is a notable newcomer for Roma, and is a Mexico native currently in her first year with the team.
“She wanted to swim here,” Snyder said. “She also wanted to work on her English because she wanted to go to a good school in the United States. She’s a good leader and extremely hard working.”
Though Martinez dominated her turn in the freestyle competition, her skill set is not one dimensional.
“She’s good at long distances and short distances,” Snyder said. “She’s really just an excellent all around swimmer. We’re hoping the younger swimmers look up to her and follow her lead.”