Skyler Hopper won first place for girls at the Lessons July Showcase at the Moss Farms Diving Center Saturday.

MOULTRIE, Ga. – There are 13 divers from Moss Farms Diving Center qualified for the upcoming USA Diving national championships. Some of them had a little fun Saturday watching the generation that will someday be national competitors of their own when the program hosted the July Lessons Showcase. This was a chance for the beginners – those taking up the sport for the first time – to get into a meet setting with announcements of their dives and judging.

Assistant Diving Tigers coach John Fox said this was the close out for the summer season of the lessons program.

“We have had a lot of growth, and we wanted these kids to have a taste of competition,” said Fox. “It’s important for them to see what it’s like and have some fun. The objective was to get them to practice the things they’ve learned through the summer and really enjoy it.”

The Diving Tigers, Fox said, will not have any lessons during August due to the national meet. So things will pick back up for them in September as the pool will be closed for the remainder of the month.

The lessons divers who were on display Saturday totaled 25 in various ages, the oldest being 12 and the youngest 5.

“We have some serious talent, so it’s going to be exciting, and they are progressing well,” said Fox. “It’s slow-go at this level because diving is so based on fundamentals and rudimentary skills. A lot of times you will ween athletes out because they don’t want to be patient. They don’t want to learn the fundamentals the right way.

“But we have been blessed. We’ve been able to retain a lot of divers. That’s not always the case. They are sticking it out, and I think it will pay off in the long term.”

What might be lesson No. 1 to a diver, the most despised word of all: splash.

“We work on entries a lot,” said Fox, agreeing with that assessment. “It’s critical. It’s what the judge sees last when the diver goes through the water. We talk to them about entries, lines, positioning off the board. It’s based on fundamentals. If they don’t focus on the basic things, five years from now it’s going to show up. That’s why we are so persistent on the little things.”

And these young divers kept it basic for this meet, not twisting and rotating their bodies through the air like their older ‘siblings’ who did a little work from the end of the lessons show to the awards ceremony.

For girls, first place went to Skyler Hopper with 129.5 points. Second was Marlie Daniels and third Sara Godfrey. For boys. first place went to Jud Taylor with 99.5 points, second was a tie between Wyatt Spruill and Ben Spruill, and third was Ethan Robinson.

USA NATIONALS TWO WEEKS AWAY

It was only in May that the Moss Farms board learned that Moultrie was selected to host the AT&T USA Diving National Championships for the first time since 2009, and this will be the first time its both junior and senior age groups that are on their way to Moultrie from all over the nation.

Dorothy McCranie, president of the Moss Farms board, spoke about what’s been happening in that time to prepare for such an extravaganza.

“We were very excited when we got the bid awarded to us,” she said. “That gave us 90 days. We appreciate the community involvement that’s been going on in getting facilities ready and everything in place so that all the people coming to town are going to have a great experience.

“It’s going to be about a $4.3 million economic impact in our county. “We hope (the citizens of Moultrie) will notice an impact across the community. Right now 570 divers have signed up, and we are expecting to have over 600 sign up. With all the family they bring, they will be in and out for that two-week span.”

The diving teams will arrive before Aug. 1’s opening day for two days of practice at the diving center, and the official opening ceremony is downtown on Saturday evening, July 30. McCranie expects this to be a fun event with entertainment and guest speakers.

“They’ll be eating in two, shopping in town. They’ll be staying in hotels in surrounding cities. The plantations are full,” said McCranie about what the average Colquitt County person will see because of this event. “People have rented houses in town.”