Hanser García Hernández

Cuban swimming athlete, silver medalist in the 100 meters freestyle and bronze medalist in the 50 meters freestyle at the Guadalajara 2011 Pan American Games. Finalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the 100 meters freestyle.

Before becoming a swimmer, Hanser was a member of the Cuban water polo national team, and due to his lack of training as a swimmer, he does not have a good start and has difficulties with turns.

He is considered a Glory of Cuban sports. In 2012 he participates in Peru in a training base for preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as in Bilbao, Spain. He wins silver medals in 50 meters and 100 meters freestyle in Barcelona with a time of 49 seconds and 32 hundredths during the first stage of the Mare Nostrum circuit, where he recorded 22 seconds and 36 hundredths, and bronze medals in 50 meters and gold in 100 meters freestyle in the second stage of the same circuit held in Canet, France. He placed seventh at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

He was born in the city of Santa Clara. From a young age he practiced swimming at the Orestes de la Torre semi-boarding school, later moving to the EIDE in this sport. His elementary school classmates gave him the nickname "El Pollo" because he had very blonde hair, due to the continuous effect of the pool chlorine.

Due to misunderstandings and sports mistakes, a swimming coach from Santa Clara stated that he did not have the conditions for that discipline, so at 13 years old, he switched to water polo, a sport that gave him the physical strength demonstrated by becoming a Pan American medalist.

Sports Career
2009
He obtained three gold medals at the ALBA Sports Games, and later, two gold medals and one bronze at the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Championship (CCCAN), held in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. In this competition he became the first Cuban to break the 50-second mark in 100 meters freestyle, registering 49:53, a mark he later reduced to 48.60.

The results obtained allowed him to be selected as the most outstanding individual athlete of Villa Clara province that year.

2011
He obtains a silver medal at the XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011, in the 100 meters, with a national record of 48.34. After the competition ended, Hansel declared:

This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, I came today to give my all in the pool and I told Lulú [2] to trust in me. [3]
He then confessed that having started in lane three, right next to the Pan American champion and record holder, Brazilian César Cielo (47.84), meant a lot, as it set the pace and forced him to dig deeper.

In the 50 meters freestyle this rapid race was won by the favored Brazilian César Cielo Filho with a Pan American record of 21.58, followed by his countryman Bruno Fratus (22.05), while Hanser lowered the national record to 22.15.

In Shanghai he broke 49 seconds and just nine weeks later he reaches 48.34. The greatest difficulty for this athlete lies in the start and the turn.

At the World Championship of Aquatic Sports held in Shanghai, he finished in 18th place in the 100 meters freestyle, becoming the first Cuban to break the 49-second barrier in the 100m freestyle, with 48.99s, and 29th place in the 50 meters freestyle with 22.72 seconds, and despite being just ten hundredths away from his national best, he could not match his great 100-meter result. However, he improved his year's record (22.79s) in the fastest swimming race.

He was distinguished as the best Cuban swimmer of 2011 thanks to the silver and bronze medals at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara and four of the six national records he achieved that year in freestyle. That year he managed to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Prior to these results, he obtained three gold medals at the Marcelo Salado International Cup held in Havana.

2012
Hanser during the Mare Nostrum
In January and February he conducted a training base in Peru, with the goal of winning a medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games. From May 30 onwards, he does so in Bilbao, Spain, in order to participate in the Mare Nostrum circuit stages in Spain and France, and in the Sette Colinas Open in Italy as part of his Olympic preparation.

He obtained a silver medal in the 100 meters freestyle event with a time of 49 seconds and 32 hundredths during the Mare Nostrum swimming circuit stage held in the Spanish city of Barcelona, on June 2, and also obtained the silver medal in the 50 meters freestyle on June 3 in the same event, where he recorded 22 seconds and 36 hundredths.

In the second stop of the Mare Nostrum circuit, hosted by the French city of Canet, he finished with a gold medal in 100 meters freestyle, beating Canadian Brent Hayden (49.00) and local Yannick Angel (49.02) with a time of 48.89 seconds. In these first two stages of the Mare Nostrum circuit, the most outstanding Cuban was Hanser, with an accumulated total of one gold, two silver, and one bronze, in addition to occupying first place by points in the 50 meters, with 789 points, and eighth in the 100 meters, with 818 points.

He wins the silver medal in the 100 meters freestyle on the final day of the 49th edition of the Sette Colinas Trophy in Rome, Italy, with a time of 49.10 seconds, just one hundredth behind gold medalist, Dutch swimmer Sebastian Verschuren.

During the London 2012 Olympic Games he competed in the 50 meters and 100 meters respectively, finishing seventh in this competition with a Cuban record of 48.04, where for the first time a Cuban participates in the final of this competition. When interviewed, he expressed:

I wanted more, the Cuban people, whom I so admire, should know that I swam with my soul, I gave everything to earn a medal, it was very difficult, it was a hard race, I felt the fatigue, and I really did what I could, and although I am satisfied, I believe that whoever does not have ambitions "is stuck"; it gives me strength for another Olympic cycle, I am young and I have plenty of willingness to continue on this path.

He occupied eighth place in the world ranking in the 100 meters freestyle specialty, following his performance at the recently concluded XXX London Olympic Games, Great Britain.

García is the second best-positioned Latin American on the updated list, with a time of 48.04 seconds, behind Brazilian Cesar Cielo (47.92), who occupies seventh place, according to the International Swimming Federation.

With this time, recorded twice in the competition at the major London event, the Caribbean athlete destroyed the national record of 48.34, set by him at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October 2011.