Xavier García Gadea (born 5 January 1984) is a Spanish-Croatian

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player. He was a member of the Spain national team between 1999 and 2013, finishing in sixth place at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, fifth at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing and sixth again at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. In 2003, García, then playing for CN Barcelona-Noferthe, ended up in fifth place with the national side at the

2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. ...

in his home town of Barcelona. Since 2010, García has played in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. After being left out of the Spain national team in 2013, he obtained the Croatian citizenship in 2016 to be able to take part in the

Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, facing Spain in the group stage.

Honours

CN Barcelona *

LEN Euro Cup The European Aquatics Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the European Aquatics for those clubs who did not qualify for the European Aquatics Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. From 2024, afte ...

: 2003–04 * Spanish Championship: 2003–04, 2004–05 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2002–03 CN Atlètic-Barceloneta * Spanish Championship: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10 *

: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

: 2007, 2009, 2010 Primorje Rijeka *

LEN Champions League The European Aquatics Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A ...

''runners-up'': 2011–12, 2014–15 *

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 * Croatian Championship: 2013–14, 2014–15 * Croatian Cup: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 VK Jug *

: 2015–16; ''runners-up'': 2016–17 *

LEN Super Cup The European Aquatics Super Cup is an annual water polo match organized by European Aquatics and contested by the reigning champions of the two most important European club competitions, the European Aquatics Champions League and the European A ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 * Croatian Championship: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 * Croatian Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19

Awards

* Member of the World Team 2018 by ''total-waterpolo''

Orders

* Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar – 2016 Vijesti: Dodijeljena odlikovanja izraz su priznanja i zahvalnosti za rad i doprinos razvoju i napretku Republike Hrvatske
/ref>

References

External links

* 1984 births Living people Water polo players from Barcelona Spanish emigrants to Croatia Spanish male water polo players Croatian male water polo players Water polo drivers Left-handed water polo players Water polo players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic water polo players for Spain Olympic silver medalists for Croatia in water polo World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo Water polo players at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Water polo players at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in water polo Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Spain Croatian people of Spanish descent Croatian people of Catalan descent Naturalized citizens of Croatia Sportsmen from Catalonia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate water polo players Naturalised sports competitors European Water Polo Championship medalists 21st-century Spanish sportsmen 21st-century Croatian sportsmen {{Croatia-Olympic-medalist-stub

Honours

Awards

Orders

See also

References

External links