Shaine Casas Teasing Breakthrough as U.S. Men Seek New Stars
Talent has never been in question for Shaine Casas. The 25-year-old has been among the top swimmers in the country for almost six years, since he won both backstroke events at a National Championships held just after the World Championships. Casas entered the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials favored to seal up a berth in Tokyo in at least one backstroke event, and his performances throughout 2022 suggested he could be a difference-maker for the U.S. men across a variety of events.
Except that has never panned out. Casas qualified for the World Championships in 2022 and 2023 and for the Paris Olympics last year but only in one event on each occasion. He has captured a pair of short course world titles, but his only individual medal at the long course edition of the meet was a bronze in the 200 backstroke in 2022. Casas made the 2024 Olympics in the 200 IM, but he came up six hundredths short of securing a spot in the final.
Now, Casas has entered the new quadrennium on a strong note as he continues to train at the University of Texas but now under the guidance of Bob Bowman. Casas won the short course world title in the 200 IM in December and lowering an American record held by Ryan Lochte. Racing his first long course meet of the year at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Westmont, Ill., Casas was dominant with six individual victories, all in strong times: 48.31 in the 100 freestyle and 24.23 in the 50 back one night, 1:47.17 in the 200 free and 1:58.51 in the 200 back the next, 53.54 in the 100 back and 50.82 in the 100 fly to close it out.
Shaine Casas (right) with Carson Foster after qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
He opted out of his signature medley race for this meet, but the results put Casas in a strong position three months out from the U.S. selection meet for the World Championships. His 100 free time is only a few tenths short of the 47.94 it took to qualify for the gold-medal-winning 400 free relay team in Paris, and the 100 fly mark came in only two hundredths behind the mark Thomas Heilman swam for second-place at Olympic Trials.
Of note, Casas did not race either of those events at Olympic Trials, putting his focus entirely on the 200 IM after missing the top heat of the 100 back. That’s not the first time Casas has made questionable lineup choices; in 2022, he opted out of the 100 fly and 200 IM at the American World Championships selection meet, only to crush times of 50.40 and 1:55.26, respectively, at a non-qualification meet later in the summer. Had Casas hit those marks at the already-held global meet, he would have captured a pair of silver medals.
Those times would still rank as extremely competitive in the global landscape — only Leon Marchand surpassed Casas’ best time in the 200 IM final in Paris — but Casas has not come close to those marks since. If he wants to change the narrative, he will need to use his Westmont performance as a launching point and make steady improvements over the coming months before the pressure is on in June.
And perhaps more than ever, the U.S. men could use Casas in top form when it counts. Ryan Murphy and Caeleb Dressel have not competed since Paris, their futures in the sport unclear. Aside from Carson Foster in the medley events, the Westmont meet was devoid of elite times in Casas’ best events.
Will this be the year that Casas reaches the international level as a medal contender in multiple events, ready to take on a key relay role for the Stars and Stripes? The American men are coming off an Olympics in which they won just six individual medals and a lone individual gold from Bobby Finke. so Casas taking a star turn would be a very welcome development.,
