|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Francisco E. Jimenez and Gary Long
The entire Rio Grande Valley is uniting in support of McAllen’s very own Olympian, Shaine Casas.
The 2018 McAllen High School grad will be competing in the 200-meter men’s individual medley at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games early Thursday morning.
Casas, 24, is an 11-time world championship medalist and three-time NCAA champion. He earned his spot on the men’s U.S. Olympic Swim Team after finishing second in the finals of the 200-meter individual medley on June 21 with a time of 1 minute, 55.83 seconds — just 0.18 seconds behind winner Carson Foster.
“This is something that the whole community is pretty excited about having,” McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos said. “It’s one of the most important Olympic sports that happens every four years, and our very own Shaine Casas is representing us. I know McAllen is very excited. The whole Rio Grande Valley is very excited, and we back him to the very end.”
“I don’t care whether he brings the bronze, silver or gold — or he doesn’t bring anything — to us he’s already a champion.”
Coverage of the race begins at 4 a.m. Thursday. Casas will be in Heat No. 4, lane five, which takes place at 4:40 a.m. Central Time, 11:40 a.m. Paris time. The Heat will be streamed on Peacock.
For those individuals who have yet to adjust to Paris time, there will be local watch parties scheduled throughout the Valley Thursday afternoon.
McAllen ISD will be hosting a watch party at the McAllen High School auditorium, located at 2021 La Vista Avenue. Doors for the event will open at 1:30 p.m., and the race will be shown at 2:30 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to bring signs and Team USA gear.
The lower Valley will also be showing its support for Casas with a watch party at the Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center, located at 2901 FM802 in Brownsville.
The aquatic center happens to be where McAllen swimmer Shaine Casas owns most of the pool records. Doors for the event will open at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, and admission is free.
The Brownsville event will have jumbotron-style screens set up at the shallow and deep ends of the pool, plus big screen TVs along the spectator side, and extra bleachers at both ends of the pool to accommodate any overflow.
If Casas qualifies on Thursday, there will be another watch party starting at 1:45 p.m. Friday as Casas pursues Olympic gold.
“I’m from Brownsville, grew up in Brownsville, swam on the Brownsville swim club, and parents that I hadn’t seen for years are coming out of the woodwork to show their support. It’s heartwarming,” aquatic center administrator Monica M. Rosales said.
”I’m making a big assumption that he makes the semifinals because I really think he will,” Rosales said
“I think people don’t understand how special this really is. …To even make the Olympics is quite an honor because it’s a time standard. In the individual medley that he swam, 1,000 swimmers swam and only the top two make the Olympic swim team, so for him to come out number two out of 1,000, that’s pretty wild and on top of that he’s only 1.83 seconds off the world record.”
The USA’s Ryan Lochte holds the world record at 1 minute, 54 seconds flat. The Olympic record is held by the USA’s Michael Phelps at 1:54.23.
The semifinals will be held near the end of the Olympic day, scheduled to start at 2:35 p.m., Central Time, 9:35 p.m. in Paris time. The medal round is slated for 1:43 p.m., Central Time, Friday (8:43 p.m. Paris time).
RELATED READING:
Shaine Casas’ Olympic run inspires pride at McAllen High School
