S P O R T S

Havana.  May 17, 2013

From 'Chicken' to prize rooster

Abdul Nasser Thabet

WITH a nickname that no one would imagine for a world-class swimmer, Pollo (Chicken), Hanser Garcia continues to astound fans as he flies through the water.

He no longer needs an introduction. At a time when Cuba had buried its dreams of international swimming medals, this former water polo player from Villa Clara appeared on the scene, with his ready smile and irrepressible desire to win, to continue the legacy of Rodolfo Falcón and Neisser Bent. How far will he go?

Why did people start calling you Pollo?

Can you imagine! (Laughter) It has stuck since I was a kid, because of my hair. I've always been blonde and in my native Villa Clara, they say I look like a chicken. Now no one can take it away from me. That's what my friends call me, it's a sign of affection.

You began playing water polo as a boy, then suddenly we see you surprising everyone on five continents in another sport...

Polo was my thing, and I never imagined I'd get this far. In 2009, I was a member of the national team and then, all of a sudden, everything changed. It's a long story, but I can summarize it quickly, like the 100-meter freestyle.

After a trial, which I finished in just over 53 seconds, my trainer told me that I could win the Cuban championship with that time. I jumped into the pool a few weeks later at the Marcelo and the stop clock read 51 seconds, plus a few hundredths.

Then came the ALBA Games, where I finished with similar times. It wasn't until the Central American- Caribbean Swimming Championship (CCCAN) that I took a qualitative leap forward. There I turned in a time of 49.53 seconds in the 100- meter freestyle.

After your great effort and excellent times of 2011 and 2012, what expectations do you have for 2013?

This year has been a little dead, with few competitions in most sports. Luckily for us, not so much. We have the Barcelona World Championship soon, July 19 through August 4, which has repercussions for the Olympic Games and is almost as important, since it's a similar challenge and most of the best swimmers attend. In Spain, I'll face the same opponents I had in London, with a few exceptions.

To this point, I have kept up my training, with the known issues: the cold, problems with unheated pools. No matter, we continue on 'war footing.' We can't stop.

Next, I'll be participating in the European Mare Nostrum circuit. I have to make the maximum effort to repeat my last year's performance, when I won several medals. My immediate goal is to improve, win better medals, but the trial by fire will be in Barcelona.

The last long course [50m laps] World competition I attended was Shanghai 2011. On that occasion, I finished in the 18th spot of the general ranking. Of course, I didn't arrive in China like I am going to arrive in Catalonia. I began, as we say, buried at 140th spot in the ranking and, now, I am among the best in the world. I have a seventh place Olympic finish and the identical position in the 2012 short course [25m laps] World championship which took place in Istanbul.

Of course, my hopes and dreams are pretty big: always win, improve as a person and as an athlete.

How is your training going and how are you addressing technique problems?

As everyone knows, my major deficiencies are with turns and the start. In the Marcelo Salado Advanced Training School for High Performance Athletes (ESFAAR), I am working on the start from a stand we invented, and for some time now, I have maintained a stable reaction time, within international parameters of the best on the planet.

There are things we don't have, that hold us back somewhat, but I don't think we'll have any more cold fronts coming through, and I can train full out. With the right temperatures, I'll be able to recover lost time, since I've stopped doing certain things given the low temperatures. I'm specifically referring to turns and starts.

Your second lap is among the best in the world, but not your first lap, giving the impression that you could win the gold, if you could swim the first 50 meters as fast as the second. What can you say about that?

I'm not as fast as you think. I maintain my pace on the return. It's a tactical question. There are athletes who swim faster than I do, but don't have the endurance I have during the last lap. Generally I stroke at my pace, but I train for the return a lot, so it's easy for me. That's the crux of the issue.

And your technique? Many people question it, comparing you to other swimmers...

There is only one technique, but every athlete has his style. What you see is mine and I don't think that, at this point, I can change it. I could improve some things, polish up a few details. I could better incorporate my paddling, but it would be difficult to change it altogether. At 24 years of age, it's practically impossible. Remember I began to swim officially in 2009.

I've reached a professional level this way, and that's how I'll stay. Anyway, with this style, I have a 24-second time after the turn, so my technique is not the problem, it's the details. What looks really easy is almost always the most difficult.

For example, practice with the dolphin move is begun with children and I was over 20 when I began to familiarize myself with it. What's more, my reaction time at the start is 6 hundredths, the current average.

Do you have Río de Janeiro on your mind?

Every athlete's goal is the Olympics, despite the fact that hardly anyone wins with record times. It's the competition everyone waits for, the big one. That's my goal, to get to the Brazilian meet in 2016 in optimal condition and give my people some joy.

From your point of view, what is needed in Cuban swimming to improve on the international level and what distinguishes our athletes?

When I started to win medals, people looked at me with astonished faces, as if to say, "Where did he come from?" I was an unknown without elite level times, almost a Mr. Nobody. I remember that in Canet, during one of the 2012 Mare Nostrum stops, I won a gold and it was like a bucket of cold water on everyone. Afterward, when I qualified for the Olympic final, they were still perplexed, although perhaps resigned. By the time I got to Istanbul, seeing me again, they began saying hello, recognizing me. By then, there was no more indifference. I was one among the elite.

I say that it isn’t the pool, or the situation, which produce results. Clearly, they have an effect, I won't exaggerate. But I believe that if an athlete has desire and heart, he can go far. Problems that cause the most damage are those in your head.

How do you manage the fame you've acquired, the warmth of the people who love you, the ruckus children create when they see you?

I've become accustomed to it and it's very nice to feel such affection. I've been to several schools and more than 100 children have assaulted me and I just freeze up, not knowing what to do, but happy. I love to interact with the children, enjoy them, I enjoy the Cuban public in general. I feel that the people do love me a great deal. I couldn't ask for more, this is worth more than any medal.