Shaine Casas is a competitive swimmer who represents the United States internationally.
High School
Coming out of high school, Casas was a 3-time varsity swimmer for McAllen high school in McAllen, Texas. At the 2017 6A State championship meet, Casas placed 2nd in both the 200 IM (1:47.59) and 100 fly (47.88).
Casas was also a member of the USA Swimming Junior National Team. At the 2017 Summer Jr Nats, he won a title in the 100 fly (53.24), placed 2nd in the 100 back (55.79), 3rd in the 200 IM (2:03.06) and 50 free (23.05), 4th in the 100 free (50.84), 6th in the 200 back (2:02.26), and 8th in the 200 free (1:52.80), making an A final in all 7 of his individual events.
On September 19, 2017, Casas announced his verbal commitment to swim for Texas A&M University.
College (Texas A&M)
2018-2019
Casas made a difference his first year as an Aggie. At the SEC Championships, he placed 4th in the 200 IM (1:43.35), 7th in the 100 back (45.94), and 2nd in the 200 back (1:39.84). At the NCAA Champs, he switched up his event lineup and still had success, placing 13th in the 200 IM (1:42.71), 25th in the 100 fly (45.98), and 11th in the 200 fly (1:41.31).
2019-2020
After a breakout summer, Casas wasted no time converting his success over to short course. At the Art Adamson Invite in December of 2019, Casas dropped best times in several events, including the 200 IM (1:40.16, fastest teenager ever), 100 back (44.48, school record), 100 fly (45.26, school record), and 200 back (1:38.21, 7th fastest performer all-time).
At the SEC Championships, Casas started things off by helping the Aggies to a win in the 200 medley relay, the mens team’s first ever SEC relay title. On day 2, Casas kept the train rolling, taking the SEC title in the 200 IM at 1:39.91, becoming the youngest man to ever break 1:40 in the event. After taking a 2nd place in the 100 back (44.68), Casas blew away the field in the 200 back, touching at 1:37.20, becoming the #5 performer all-time and breaking Ryan Lochte’s meet record in the event from 2005.
2020-2021
Back in action after a cancelled NCAA’s in March, Casas rocked the pool in Austin at Texas’s “First Chance” meet in mid-October. He picked up right where he left off seven months earlier, throwing down a 44.40 in the 100 back, 1:36.54 in the 200 back, 1:40.52 in the 200 IM, and 3:38.22 in the 400 IM. That 200 back time moved him up to #4 all-time, and puts him only a second away from Ryan Murphy’s 1:35.73, the fastest swim ever. Again, this was in October.
In early November, Casas kept rolling, starting with a 1:39.23 in the 200 fly at Texas A&M-TCU dual meet, good for #7 all-time. Less than two weeks later at the Art Adamson Invite, he popped a 1:38.95 in the 200 IM, joining Caeleb Dressel and Andrew Seliskar as the only two men to go under 1:39. He then went 43.87 in the 100 back to become the 3rd-fastest ever in that event. He flexed a bit of sprint speed too with a 19.15 relay leadoff, a time that would qualify him for NCAAs in the 50 free, and would probably score in the B-final.
In December, Casas put a cherry on top of his speedy sundae, dropping a 46.33 in the 100 IM to become the fastest-ever in the event by 0.73s. While USA Swimming doesn’t officially track records in that event, times do end up in the SWIMS database, and the fastest known swim before Casas was Matt Grevers’ 47.06 back in 2016.
For his collegiate swims all throughout the year of 2020, Casas earned the 2020 Swammy Award for Collegiate Male of the Year.
National/International Competition
2019 National Championships
The 2019 Nationals were a breakout meet for Casas, as he posted a best time nearly every finals session he got in the pool. On days 1 and 2, he won the C-final of the 100 free in 49.17 and placed 2nd overall in the 200 back (1:55.79), missing the top of the podium by just .07. On day 3, he once again won the C-final, this time in the 100 fly (52.15). On day 4, Casas won his first senior national title, touching first in the 100 back by over a second at 52.72. On the final day, he placed 2nd once again, this time in the 200 IM (1:58.83).
