Clark’s Diving Superstar Garcia is Not Done Yet

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Monday, March 05, 2012

Mark Volain, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Although Clark University Senior Eileen Garcia has been awarded her third New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Women's Diver of the Year Award, she is not done diving yet.

At this year's NEWMAC Swimming and Diving Championships Garcia- who hails from New York, New York- finished in first in the 3 meter competition, with a score of 524.95 and finished second in the 1 meter competition, with a score of 460.1.

Air-awareness

Garcia was gymnast prior to coming to Clark, a transition common for divers. “I already had air-awareness and experience with flipping, so that was easy.” Garcia said. While her scores from this year are impressive, these are not the best Garcia has ever had. At the last year's NEWMAC Championship Garcia set Clark records for all four diving events. “Every year I've gained something, learned more dives,” Garcia said. “[Diving coach] Laura [O'Tell] understands when to push you past your comfort zone, and when to let you wait and get mentally prepared.”

Divers regularly compete with six dives, at both 1 meter and 3 meter heights. In championships, the divers use eleven dives. Garcia's record for six dives is 312- for 1 meter- and 324.6- for 3 meters.

For eleven dives, Garcia's best at 1 meter was 476. Garcia's winning score of 524.65 at 3 meters this year was 6.7 off of her Clark record of 531.65, set at last year's NEWMAC Championships. Garcia's diving career continues later this month, when she heads to Purdue University to compete in the NCAA Division III Championship.

 

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