Shaine Casas is a professional competitive swimmer representing the United States. He is an Olympian, 11-time World Championship medalist and a 3-time NCAA DI Champion.
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.
2021 NCAA Championships
At the 2021 NCAA DI Championships in Greensboro, N.C., Casas notched 3 individual wins, dropping a 1:39.53 in the 200 IM, 44.2 100 back, and a 1:35.75 in the 200 back.
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).
2020 U.S. Olympic Trials (aka the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials)
Coming off of a successful 2021 NCAA Championships, Casas was positioned to be a force at the US Olympic Trials in Omaha, NE, his first appearance at an Olympic Trials competition. Casas qualified in the 50m, 100m, and 200m free, 100m and 200m back, 100m fly, and the 200m IM. Casas finaled in two events, the 100m back and 200m back. In the 100m back Casas touched the wall in 52.76, touching third place behind the 2016 defending Olympic champions Ryan Murphy and new fast-rising talent Hunter Armstrong. The third place 100m back finish, only one spot off of making the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team, appeared to have taken a toll on Casas, one he did not recover from for the rest of the swimming meet. In 200m back, Casas hit the wall, placing 6th in the final with a 1:57.64.
2021 FINA Short Course World Championships
After a disappointing U.S. Olympic Trials, Casas earned a career milestone representing Team USA at the Short Course Meters (scm) World Champs in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 2021.
Casas marshaled a big schedule of events, racing and reaching the final in all 8 events, earning medals in 6 events. Casas earned gold in the 100 scm back with a 49.23. He also earned gold in the 4×50 scm medley relay with a 1:30.51. Casas snatched sliver in the 200 scm back, 1:48.81, the 4×100 scm medley relay, 3:20.5, and the 4×50 scm mixed medley relay, 1:37.04. Casas captured bronzed in the 4×100 scm free relay with a 3:05.42.
Cases Turns Pro
6x world championship medalist and 3x NCAA champion, Shaine Casas’ decision to leave his alma mater of Texas A&M to train with their rival Longhorns in Austin turned quite a few heads, but Jan 26, 2022 Casas sets the record straight. Casas took SwimSwam inside his head and through the whole process of trying to transfer and ultimately deciding to go pro. Few swimmers choose to put their degree on hold to focus on their athletic career, but we see it frequently in other sports. Casas said he wants to prioritize his swimming and describes his new training environment at the University of Texas with Eddie Reese.
2022 World Championship Trials
On night 2 in Greensboro, Casas made his first LCM world champs team, touching 2nd in the 200 back in a PB of 1:55.46.
2022 World Championships
Casas made the most of his lone individual in Budapest, making it through to the final in the 200 back and putting it all on the line, winding up in 3rd place with a new PB of 1:55.35 and earning a bronze medal.
2022 Short Course World Championships
In Melbourne, Casas earned 4 more medals to add to his resume. He swam for silver in the 200 back behind countrymate Ryan Murphy and helped USA to gold in the mixed 4×50 medley relay, silver in the 4×50 medley relay, and bronze in the 4×100 free relay.
2023 U.S. International Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Casas had an off meet. He missed the A final of the 100 free (48.94) and 200 back (1:58.65) despite posting season bests. He scratched the finals in both of them. On night 3, Casas saw himself in his first two A finals of the meet but placed 5th in the 50 back (24.70) and 3rd in the 100 fly (51.42). Both swims were adds from prelims. After he scratch the 100 back entirely, His qualification for Worlds came down to the 200 IM. Despite being the top seed, Casas barely made the final with a 1:59.60 for 8th. In the final, despite the field shifting around him, Casas held 2nd place throughout the entire race and secured his spot on the Worlds team.
2024 US Olympic Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
After finishing a disappointing 9th place in the 100 back and scratching the 100 free, Casas took on the 200 IM. He made the semis in 6th with a 1:59.10. He looked superb in the semis, clocking a 1:57.87 after he shut down his race on the free leg. In the final, Casas, shot out to a remarkably fast first 100, giving shades of Michael Andrew from 2021 trials. He was 23.79 on his opening 50, 1.1 seconds under WR pace. He remained .8 seconds under that pace through the 200 with a 28.89 back leg. The WR line just edged past him on the breast, with Casas splitting a 33.80. Casas surely felt the piano coming home as training partner Carson Foster out split him by 1.7 seconds coming home but no one else was close as Casas split 29.27 to touch 2nd with a 1:55.83 and qualify for his first Olympic Games. It was clearly an emotional moment as he embraced Foster.
