July 29, 2016
BARCELONA – Rising sophomore Penn State diver Hector Garcia Boissier is having a successful summer in his native Spain, as he earned three medals – a gold, silver and bronze - at the country's National Championships, July 23.
"I'm extremely happy to see Hector preforming this well at the Spanish National Championships after all the hard work he put in this past year," said Penn State diving coach Dennis Ceppa.
Garcia's gold came in the 3-meter synchronized dive when he teamed up with his brother, Nico. Individually, the pair also ranked one and two in the 3-meter springboard, as Hector took silver behind his brother's gold medal performance.
"Hector and his brother are a wonderful synchronized team and no doubt the best Spain has to offer," said Ceppa. "Having them compete together again and finishing atop the competition proves that Hector training here in the U.S. will not affect their ability to be successful."
Hector also claimed a bronze medal in the 1-meter springboard after leading the event coming out of the preliminaries.
"He's using one of the new dives he learned just before heading back to Spain and is now doing it well, which was great to see," said Ceppa. "His second place finish to only his brother on 3-meter and having the point deficit being minimal across their diving list shows that he's progressing very well."
Garcia is coming off a strong rookie campaign at Penn State, as he became the first Nittany Lion to earn honorable mention All-America honors at the NCAA Championships since Adam Pierce in 2006. He won both the 1- and 3-meter dives at the NCAA Zone A Regional to punch his ticket to NCAAs, becoming the first Nittany Lion to qualify since 2007. He was ultimately joined by classmate Jack Crow and senior Logan Knauss at the NCAA Championships, marking the first time since 1998 that as many as three Lions qualified.
"I spoke to Hector to congratulate him on his performance and at the end of the conversation he expressed how excited he is to come back to Penn State to get back to work," said Ceppa. "He continually exemplifies what we work to accomplish in all aspects here; I am proud of him."