By Matt Browning

Perhaps the thing McPherson’s Cristian Garcia was most excited about for the swimming season was being able to show what kind of leader he is.

“I could tell this team needed a leader figure to it so I knew that had to be me,” Garcia said. “We had a bunch of brand new guys coming in and a couple of past season swimmers returning and we needed to build a good team bond, which I believe we have this year.”

For the summer outdoor season, Garcia joined a club team, which proved to be extremely successful.

“I did really well in club swimming getting 10 first place ribbons, six second place ribbons, and three third place ribbons,” Garcia said. “During the summer and spring I also worked out and went on two mile runs almost every day to build muscle and endurance before the season started.”

Garcia came so close to state last season, which left him heartbroken. He wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“Breaststroke is my main event and during last season I didn’t make it to state because someone beat me out by a tenth of a second and that left me heartbroken because the previous two years I made it,” Garcia said. “I raced in breaststroke all summer long working on improving the form and the speed.”