Tate Garcia ’26, a senior from Honolulu, HI, has become a shot put powerhouse for the Swarthmore track and field team. She began her college debut with an outstanding 2023 outdoor season, taking the silver medal in the discus throw (37.81m) at Centennial Conference Championships. During the 2024 outdoor season, Garcia was the conference champion in the shot put (12.12m) and posted a personal record in the discus and hammer throws (39.94m and 38.97m, respectively). During the 2024-2025 indoor seasons, she finished with the top mark in the region in shot put, winning the event at the Keogh, Diplomat, and Centennial Conference tournaments. In the 2025 outdoor season, Garcia was invited to her sixth-straight championship meet, where she won the discus with a personal-best of 40.91m and finished second in the shot put (12.85m).
During her four years at Swarthmore, she has earned various accolades. Garcia is a four-time USTFCCCA All-Metro, three-time All-Centennial First Team, two-time All-Centennial Second Team, USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete, two-time CSC Academic All-District, three-time Academic All-Centennial, and four-time Centennial Honor Roll awardee. As Swarthmore track and field rolls into the outdoor season, Garcia is an exciting athlete to watch compete.
Katie Kerman: Congratulations on your Centennial Conference All-Region Selection in the shot put! Looking back on the past — and your last — indoor season, how did you feel you performed?
Tate Garcia: Thank you! I had a bit of a tough start to indoor season — something about my shot put technique was not clicking, and I had a hard time getting out of that rut. I was happy to have made some adjustments to my mental approach to practicing and competing by the end of the season. Over the past few seasons, I’ve worked on my mental game. It feels great to put that into practice and see positive results.
KK: This past weekend, the track and field team traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC, to compete in the Myrtle Beach Collegiate Trip that opens Swarthmore’s outdoor season. Can you tell me a bit about the annual trip and your performance in the shot put?
TG: The trip was awesome. It was great to bond with my younger teammates and be roommates with the throwers for a week. Swat throws has a whole lot of talent, and we see it all come together during outdoor season. My goal for the season-opener meet was to have fun competing with my team, especially as we get back into outdoor events (hammer throw, discus, and javelin). I believe I was successful because I had little pressure on myself to perform well, and of course we had so much fun.
KK: Given that this is your final outdoor season, what are some of your personal goals, and what are some of the team’s goals, building off of the indoor season?
TG: Our throwing team’s goals are to train hard together to be successful in scoring a lot of points at the Conference Championship meet. It’s exciting to be a captain of a team with so much talent and potential, and we’re excited to show what we can do this outdoor season. My personal goals are to qualify for the NCAA national meet in shot put and continue improving in all of my events.
KK: What have been your favorite meets or memories from your four seasons of collegiate track and field?
TG: My all-time favorite memory is my first outdoor conference meet when my superstar teammate, Adria Retter ’23 (a national champion in discus), won discus and I managed to place second. A close second is last year’s conference championship, when my teammates (Lydia Morris-Kliment ’27 and Lee Bickford ’25) and I swept the podium in discus.
KK: How do you manage your time effectively between rigorous training, competitions, and academics?
TG: I definitely prioritize track and academics, but planning fun things with friends gives me events to look forward to when I’m deep in the grind.
KK: How do you prepare yourself mentally and physically for a big game or match?
TG: I try to get at least eight hours of sleep, have a coffee in the morning, and chocolate-covered espresso beans before and during the competition.
KK: What have you learned about teamwork from your experiences?
TG: Track is innately an individual sport, especially in the throwing events. However, teammates are important: they are there with you during the hard lifts and plyos. We push each other during workouts, which allows us to succeed together when it matters. Throwing events are also very mental, so supportive teammates make competitions a better experience.
KK: What are some of your favorite parts of being a student-athlete at Swarthmore College?
TG: Having a second family with my teammates and coaches. They’re gonna be around no matter what, so I’ve learned to lean on them.
KK: Finally, what is your major, favorite course, and favorite Swarthmore College lore?
My major is neuroscience. My favorite course has been an anthropology class called Comparative Perspectives on the Body. And my favorite lore is that Swarthmore is one of the first co-ed colleges, and its first graduating class had five women and one man.
