By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
With the District 32-6A swimming & diving meet two weeks away in Harlingen, Los Fresnos is doing its best to find time in the pool.
The Falcons’ squad has been limited due to the cold temperatures because their practice facility is outdoors in the park across from the high school.
“I’ll be honest, we haven’t practiced much because of the weather,” Los Fresnos coach Albino Cisneros said. “Our facility isn’t up to par with everyone else, but the pool is heated. When I feel that it’s not that bad, I put them in there and we try to get as much time in the water as we can.
“People think we’re insane, but we have to do it. We have a district title to defend.”
To compensate, the Falcons have kept up with preparation time by attending many of the meets leading up to the upcoming district meets. This has allowed Los Fresnos to make sure the times for its individual events and relay teams are where they need to be.
Cisneros and his squads will compete at the Mission Invitational today and Saturday after participating in McAllen last week.
“It really is (important for lack of practice time),” he said. “I was happy with my boys, they came in second, and my girls were either fifth or sixth. They did well.”
Other than a chance to get in more workouts, the Falcons look forward to swimming in Mission for a simple reason.
“We’re excited to go because its a new pool,” Cisneros said. “They opened it last year, and we haven’t been to it.”
Despite limited workouts in the pool, Cisneros said his team is focused on defending both the boys and girls district crowns from a year ago.
“The boys aren’t going to give up their district title to just anyone,” he said as the boys earned their fifth consecutive district title last year. “Whoever beats us will certainly gain my respect. But until then, we’ll keep fighting.”
WORK TO BE DONE: For Porter swimming & diving, the boys and girls teams will be staying close to home to prepare for the upcoming District 32-5A meet next week at PSJA High.
Instead of opting to compete at the Pre-District 32-5A meet at the same location, Porter will focus on its preparation during the next week at the Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
“Basically, we’re trying to get in line with some of the events that we have swam throughout (the year) and look at the times from the rest of the district,” Porter coach Luis Roman Ortega said. “We try to place some of the swimmers where they will be able to place a little bit higher at the district meet. (We’re) moving some kids around for some different events.”
During the next week, Ortega said his squad will be working extra hard.
“Basically overloading a lot of the swims and then rest them more next week,” he said. “We prepare the same every year, so hopefully that will take care of itself when we come to district. That’s the goal to swim the best times at district.”
Despite the lack of talent that the Cowboys have had in recent years, Ortega says his swimmers are ready to make an impact at the district meet.
“These kids are as hard of workers as we’ve (ever) had,” he said.
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.