Divers old and new converged on the Powell Aquatic Center to wrap up July, with Powell High School coaches Stephanie Warren and Heather Christensen teaming up to help train the next generation of Panther divers.

“It is always great to see young divers step up to the board,” Warren said. “They enjoy learning, watching and getting to be with the older divers. They learn a lot from the drills we do, and they learn even more by watching the older divers do the drills also. We made some great progress in five days.”

Throughout the week the pool saw divers all the way from middle school through the end of high school, as both the boys and girls teams are looking to replace graduates over the past several years.

“We are needing both swimmers and divers on both the girls’ and boys’ teams. Over the past three years we have graduated between 25-30 swimmers and divers between girls and boys with not a lot of kids joining swimming and diving in high school,” Warren said. “We have smaller teams and there is always room for more divers and swimmers. There are points to be won in diving that can help the swim teams do better and have more depth.”

Warren and Christensen taught the newest divers the basics of diving while working together to help the experienced divers continue growing before next season, as Warren noted she loves coaching next to one of her former students.

“I always enjoy coaching next to Heather,” Warren said. “Watching her reminds me of why I love coaching diving, and it is so great to see someone I coached share that knowledge and more she has picked up with a new group of kids.”

Warren is hopeful that the kids were able to grow a love and excitement for the sport.

“We hope they pick up an excitement for the sport and they gain the confidence to join the middle school and high school teams,” Warren said. “We can teach skill and technique to anyone, but the kids who have an excitement for it and love a challenge are the ones who pick it up the quickest.”

Coaching for nearly 30 years has meant a lot for Warren, who has taught kids of all levels over the years and hopes to continue growing the sport.

“I have coached these teams since 1997; I have had teams of seven divers and a team with one,” Warren said. “Diving is a great sport for kids who like a bit of an adrenaline rush, those who like to challenge themselves both physically and mentally in many ways. It is important that we can bring strong divers to the PHS teams to help with the depth of the overall team.”

She said that her prior experience diving herself helped her confidence in school, feeling that it “helps develop great character in kids.”

She said that swimming and diving is a team sport, but the individual nature of the sport also helps kids get the best of both worlds.

“Swimming and diving is a team sport, but it is also an individual sport and that is what I liked the most about it,” Warren said. “Kids can have the best of both worlds. I think it is important for kids to have opportunities to be in sports that can offer both pieces like that.”

The PHS girls’ swim and dive team kicked off practice Monday morning and the first competition will be over Labor Day weekend in Lander.