Shaine Casas Delivers First NCAA Title in Texas A&M Program History

2021 NCAA MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, March 24 – Saturday, March 27, 2021
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Prelims 10 AM/ Finals 6 PM (Local Time)
• Short course yards (SCY) format
• Defending champion: Cal (1x) – 2019 results
• Streaming:
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

While it might have felt like a foregone conclusion based on how he’s swimming this year, Shaine Casas‘s 200 IM victory tonight was the first-ever NCAA title for a Texas A&M swimmer on the men’s side.

Casas won the 200 IM with a time of 1:39.53, off of his season and lifetime best of 1:38.95 from November at the Aggies’ mid-season meet.

SPLITS

• Fly – 21.15
• Back – 24.89
• Breast – 29.16
• Free – 24.33

Last season, Casas was the top performer in the 200 IM and 200 back, the former by almost two seconds. He looked like a safe bet for at least the 200 IM title at the 2020 NCAA Championships, which were ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After this race, Casas will look next to the 100 back and 200 back this weekend. He’s the top seed in both, and he’s heavily favored to win both titles.

The Texas A&M men have had a strong last few years under head coach Jay Holmes, including second-place finishes at the 2018 and 2020 SEC Championships, which both tied the program record for team placements at the conference level. They’ve never placed higher than 10th at the NCAA Championships, and while it’s very early in the meet, they sit fifth going into the 400 medley relay at this year’s meet.

On the women’s side, which is a separate program coached by Steve Bultman, the Aggies have won some 10 NCAA individual titles to date.