By Ray Sanchez 04.05.15
Meet El Paso’s latest super star: William Licon.
Oh, you may have heard of him before if you’re a swimming enthusiast. He never swam for a high school 
here but instead opted to join local clubs like the West Texas Typhoon Swim Club in El Paso.
He took to swimming like a fish.
He quickly became a Swimming Junior National Team member and represented the U.S. in the 2012 Junior Pan Pac Swimming Championships. At the Junior Pan Pac meet, he tied for sixth place in the 100m breaststroke. And he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials held in Omaha, Neb. He swam in the 200m breaststroke, finishing 19th, and missed qualifying for the semi-final by three places.
SWIMMING coaches Kris Kubik and Eddie Reese of the University of Texas at Austin, one of the most successful NCAA swimming schools in the country, knew a good thing when they saw it and came calling.
Smart move. It wasn’t long before Licon started raising eyebrows and breaking Texas school records.
As a freshman at the 2014 NCAA Championships he placed fifth in the 400 IM (Individual Medley) in school record-setting time. In addition he finished 12th in the 200 breaststroke as well as 14th in the 200 IM. Prior to the NCAA Championships Licon was the Big 12 champion in the 400 IM and the 200 breaststroke.
AND THERE he was last weekend as a sophomore, all 6 feet 4 inches of him, helping the Longhorns win their 11th NCAA team championship, and doing it in record times.
On Friday, Licon became UT’s first champion in the 400-yard individual medley while beating the event’s American record holder, Georgia’s Chase Kalisz, in 3:36.37.He now ranks as the fourth-fastest swimmer ever in the 400-yard individual medley.
The next day, Licon matched up against the American record holder in the 200 breaststroke, Arizona’s Kevin Cordes, and edged Cordes by five one-hundredths of a second.
So in two days, the El Paso native won two individual NCAA national swimming championships.
Which helped the Longhorns handily claim the team title with 528 points. California, the 2014 NCAA champion, took second with 399 points while Michigan placed third with 312 points.
LICON, WHO had set other school records previously, has already been designated All-American. He holds the Big 12 title in the 200 IM with a conference record time of one minute, 41.67, which beat the time of Olympic gold medalist Ricky Berens of 1:41.92 set in 2009.
Licon is taking his successes humbly. After setting the Big 12 record, he said, “It’s kind of hard for me to soak it in right now. It feels awesome and I’m just thrilled to be up there ln the company of names on that (school records) board.”
And oh, how much more thrilled he must be today with two NCAA titles.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was known as “The Galloping Ghost” and what number did he wear? Answer at end.
ANOTHER El Paso super star, Nolan Richardson, will be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame this coming Thursday, April 9, in Waco. Kevin Lovell, general manager of KVIA-TV, and I will be there representing El Paso in general and the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in particular.
I don’t do much traveling anymore but this is one trip I have to make. I mean, I not only gave Richardson his first writeup in 1950 when he was playing Little League baseball as a 9-year-old and hit a homerun but I’ve watched him grow into one of El Paso’s greatest athletes and one of the country’s greatest coaches.
As for Lovell, he helped get Richardson elected with letters and other forms of communication and he should be there, too. Expect some great video.
ANSWER to trivia question: Red Grange, who wore number 77