Men’s diver Skiah Garde Garcia wrapped up his first-year campaign with Hamline, finishing 18th of 28 divers at the NCAA regional diving meet and with the seventh best score in school history on the 3-Meter diving board with a score of 432.55.

“I’ve pretty much learned that I’m a competitor this year,” Garde Garcia said. “I think that next year will be a lot harder competition but I’m really excited because I know that I can dive well.”

Ryan Hawke, head coach of Hamline’s swim and dive team, had high expectations for Garde Garcia this season. Garde Garcia delivered with two All-MIAC team honors at the MIAC Championships held on Feb. 19-21. He placed second in the 3-Meter event and third in the 1-Meter with a score of  449.95 on the prelims to punch his ticket to Chicago, Illinois, for a spot at the 2015 NCAA D-III Region 1 Diving Championship on Feb. 27 and 28.

“It was nice. I got to see a lot of really good divers compete,” Garde Garcia said.

He said he also saw some familiar faces as divers from previous diving camps that he joined in the past and even friends from his hometown, Seattle, Washington, were in attendance.

Since eighth grade, Garde Garcia has been practicing dives. After taking diving lessons once a week he decided to join his high school’s diving team. During his junior year he decided to take it to the next level and joined a diving club. At the dive club, he was more committed as he spent five days a week for two hours each session.

Garde Garcia said since he has been at Hamline he has noticed a change in his performance at meets. He said before coming to Hamline he had the tendency to let his nerves get to him, which prevented him from performing to his potential. This year, he said he has been able to perform better at competitions than in practice. He said his teammates helped him get over the edge.

“Diving is a physical sport for sure but there’s definitely a big aspect of it mentally because you have everybody watching you,” Garde Garcia said. “When my friends are there supporting me that’s when I have the best meet, because they keep me calm and remind me to relax and have fun with it.”

He said when it came to diving there was always one thing that kept him wanting to come back.

“When you get a new dive, it’s the best feeling in the world,” Garde Garcia said.

As he’s recovering from this season, he is still in the process of constructing goals for the offseason. One thing he has highlighted on that list is learning new dives and practicing more on the 3-Meter diving board. He said at the regional meet the other divers were better.

“They’re at a higher caliber than I am right now just because their dives are a lot harder, but if I keep working hard I can definitely be at that caliber. Hopefully it’s next year,” Garde Garcia said. “It’s just a reminder that no matter what sport you do there’s always someone better than you, so that’s why you have to keep training harder.”

Although Garde Garcia did not make nationals, he is content with his first-year season.

I’m really fortunate that Hamline swim and dive team is so close. I think overall this season has been a success and I have things to look forward to,” Garde Garcia said.