Rocha de Murga carries high hopes to state swimming meet

McALLEN — McAllen Memorial junior Juan Rocha de Murga knows the history. He knows that when Valley kids go to the state swimming meet the result is usually the same, that they usually end up in the bottom half of the results.

Not only does he want to change that, he’s got a chance as well.

Rocha de Murga is ranked seventh in the 50-yard freestyle for this weekend’s UIL Class 5A state meet. If that ranking holds up, Rocha de Murga will at least give the Mustangs their first top-eight finish since Serafin Lopez took eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 2004.

Rocha de Murga knows what a top-eight place would mean not just for him or even Memorial, but all of Valley swimming. He’s just trying not to think about the pressure and just what he needs to do in a race that can effectively end with one bad stroke.

“It is a lot of stress when you go right behind the block and you look at other people next to you,” said Rocha de Murga, who also won the boys 100-yard backstroke at regionals. “Those guys are tall, they’re from Austin and you get nervous but meet after meet you learn you’ve got to blur everything out and just concentrate on your race.”

He’ll also be a part of the Mustangs’ 400-yard freestyle relay team with William Holmes, Humberto Salazar, Daniel Pena and Brian Holmes. Along with that group, other swimmers heading to state include McAllen Rowe’s David Santos and Sophia Grossweiler, Edinburg Economedes’ Rigoberto Abrego, Sharyland’s Alex Flores and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln diver Adrian Alanis.

But like the rest, Rocha de Murga isn’t the only Valley swimmer with hopes of doing more than just showing up. One of them is Santos, a senior who is returning to the state meet for a third time.

“Every year it was just all about qualifying for the state meet but this year it’s about much more than that,” said Santos, who will compete in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. “It’s about being a competitor at the state meet.”

While Santos returning to the state meet isn’t a surprise, before this season Mission High hadn’t sent a diver since the 1990s. In 2012, Mission is sending two — regional champion Ruben Alvarado and runner-up Robert Calvillo.

Not only did they become the first divers from their school to qualify in recent memory, but they had to do it despite practically no practice time over the last three months. Their pool in Mission is outdoors, and when the temperature dipped below 63 degrees, they couldn’t use it for practice.

So their practice time was more or less in warm-ups before meets. And yet they still made state.

“We just have a lot of talent,” Alvarado said. “I guess we’re pretty good considering we don’t practice and were able to go to state.”

Another diver, McAllen High sophomore Lauren Guzman, is also looking forward to making an appearance at state.

“I don’t really know what to expect at state because my coach says that everything is harder,” Guzman said. “It’s scored differently so I don’t really know what to expect.”

Usually for Valley athletes, that meant ending the meet well out of contention for honors. Rocha de Murga and the rest hope to change that.

Brian Sandalow covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via email at bsandalow@themonitor.com.