The Olympics Games have started and, though, I’ll miss the mindless TV shows on my rotation, I will enjoy watching most of the competitions.
Among my favorites are swimming and diving. How those athletes jump from diving boards and twist and turn and gracefully enter the water, I don’t know. Never mind those who do it synchronizing with another diver.
One summer when I was maybe 15, we had visitors from Philadelphia. They were friends of our parents who went to school, lived and worked here, and would visit at least once a year after they moved back to their native city.
One of the women — Nancy — taught me and one of my sisters how to do a jackknife — jumping high off the board, bending over to touch our toes and then kicking our legs up to enter the pool straight as a knife. We practiced and got good enough to do one pretty well, but not good enough to compete.
Locally, we can watch real competitors in the 2024 USA Diving Junior National Championships. It started Sunday and runs through Aug. 7 at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
The top youth divers from around the country will compete in individual and synchronized diving events.
Tickets range from $15 for one day to $130 for all sessions.
If you can’t make it to the live event, you can watch on the YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/usadivingtv.
Diving gets underway at 9 a.m. every day, except Aug. 5, when it begins at 1 p.m.
Who knows, maybe one day we can say we saw an Olympic diver right here in Morgantown?
Tickets can be purchased now or right up until the last daily competition at theaquaticcenteratmylanpark.ticketspice.com/usa-diving-junior-national-championships.
If you want to watch Olympic diving competitions this week, you’ll have to get up pretty early. Events start at 5 a.m. today, Wednesday and Friday, broadcast on E!, Peacock and Fubo.
PAM QUEEN is editor of The Dominion Post. Contact her with comments and suggestions at Editor@DominionPost.com.
