MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va. The top junior divers in the country are coming to the Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park for the 2024 USA Diving Junior National Championship. The competition runs from Monday, July 29 through Wednesday, August 7, according to USA Diving Event Coordinator Owen Weymouth.

“This is one of the largest diving events in the world by number of competitors,” Weymouth said. “We have over 600 competitors for this event.”

A variety of ticket packages are on sale now to watch these competitors determine who travels to South America in the fall for the world championship round. Multi-session or single-day tickets are on sale now, and group rates are available.

“It’s a chance to become the Junior National Champion for four different age groups for boys and girls,” Weymouth said. “Ultimately, it’s going to qualify teams to go to the Junior World Championships in Rio de Janeiro in October of this year.”

The divers that will perform this week are the next hopefuls to fill the ranks of the next Olympic team for the United States. Weymouth said there will be a wide range of challenging dives for the public to view over the next several days.

“The best junior divers in the country are competing in spring board and platform events, individually and synchronized diving,” Weymouth said. “These are the next generations of the elite teams that will represent the United States.”

Many of these divers are on a lifetime mission to fulfill an Olympic dream and have been pursuing that dream for most of their lives. Because of that level of preparation, it’s likely the margins of victory in each class will be very close.

“Most divers train at least four or five times a week, even six times a week for some of the top divers,” Weymouth said. “They’ve been working incredibly hard this summer to prepare.”

Weymouth said the timing of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is totally a coincidence, but he said it could inspire extra grit from the divers.

“It just happened to collide, which is great for us because everyone in the community is very excited about the Olympics going on,” Weymouth said. “I’m sure it’s going to help the junior divers find some inspiration to do their very best diving.”

 

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