BROWNSVILLE — Being the first seed on the psych sheet does not guarantee a win in the pool come race day.
But Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s David Perez is going into the Region VIII-5A meet with times five seconds faster than second in the 100-yard breaststroke and seven seconds on the next best in the 200 IM.
Perez and Chargers head swimming and diving coach Mark Schlatter are confident that the senior is going to be a regional champion in both.
The senior is dedicated to the pool, and is one of the most physical swimmers in the Valley and the region. Perez has the size and athleticism to be special not just in the pool, but in other sports, too.
“Whatever David would have wanted to do, he is athletic enough and determined enough to be good at it,” Schlatter said.
Perez can very well cruise to a regional championship, but he still needs to push himself.
“The importance of this meet is just getting the highest-seeded time for state,” Perez said. “I want a good lane in the prelims at Austin.”
Ivanna Rodriguez is another senior from Brownsville Veterans with an eye on state. Rodriguez is seeded third in the 50 freestyle and second in the 100 freestyle.
The times coming in the 50 freestyle are extremely close. The top four — McAllen High’s Lexie Bzibziak, Corpus Christi King’s Emily Hand, Rodriguez and Harlingen South’s Mia Hinojosa — hit times of 25 seconds in district. The difference comes down to tenths of a second.
“I am nervous,” Rodriguez said. “I was telling my coach, ‘I can’t sleep right now’. Whenever I start to think about it I feel the adrenaline. I have a really good chance to go to state.”
This is the only year of UIL swimming for the Matamoros native. Rodriguez had to sit out last season but came in with experience from swimming in Mexico — even capturing youth titles at national-level meets, she said.
“She has been phenomenal,” Schlatter said. “A great leader, voted a captain, hard worker and swims in the lane with David (Perez). He is like a machine, she tries to keep up and does a good job.”
Only the top two swimmers qualify for state.
The Chargers have other athletes that could make it to the Class 5A state meet in two weeks. Junior Daniel Fierro Gonzalez is seeded No. 2 in the 200 freestyle. Senior diver Zachary Edelstein is seeded fifth entering Friday (top three qualify for diving) and the girls 400 freestyle relay is seeded No. 3.
The meet is going to be held today and Saturday at the Corpus Christi Natatorium.